For a long time, I thought I was just lazy.
My hard drive was a graveyard of loops, 16-bar ideas, half-written verses, pretty intros that led nowhere.
I’d open a project, vibe for an hour, then bail. Again and again. Month after month.
It drove me insane.
Because the truth was: I loved making music.
So why couldn’t I finish any of it?
The Excuse That Almost Became My Identity
I told myself the usual things.
“I’m just a perfectionist.” “I need more time.” “I’ll finish it once I find the right vocalist / snare / chorus.” “It’s not ready yet.”
But underneath all those excuses was something I didn’t want to admit.
I was afraid to finish — because finishing meant being seen.
Unfinished songs are safe. They can’t be judged. They can’t flop. They can’t reveal that maybe I’m not as good as I hope I am.
They just sit there. Perfect in potential. Harmless in theory.
But unshared songs don't grow. And neither do the people who hoard them.
The Moment I Finally Faced It
One night I opened a folder called “Release Candidates.”
There were 41 projects in it.
Only two had been exported. None had been published.
I picked one I’d always liked — a moody cinematic thing I wrote during a breakup — and I did something terrifying:
I bounced it. As-is. No mastering. No more revisions. No more “waiting for feedback.”
Then I uploaded it.
And I felt like I was going to throw up.
What Happened After I Let Go
You know what happened?
Nothing dramatic.
A few people messaged me saying it hit hard. One person shared it. A friend said it was their favorite track of mine yet.
But that wasn’t the point.
The real win was that I had released.
For the first time in months, my identity shifted. I wasn’t just someone who makes music — I became someone who finishes.
And with that one act, a door opened.
I started finishing more. I started caring less about perfection and more about emotion. The resistance shrank. The flow returned.
I wasn’t a lazy artist. I was just a scared one.
What I Wish I Knew Earlier
Here’s what I learned — the hard way — about why we don’t finish:
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Perfectionism is fear in disguise. It feels noble, but it’s just avoidance.
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Finishing means you can be judged. But it also means you can connect, grow, and evolve.
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You won’t get better at finishing until you practice finishing. Just like you won’t get better at live shows by playing to yourself in a mirror.
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The moment you let go of perfect is the moment your work becomes real.
We all say we want feedback, momentum, growth. But those only come after the leap.
Not before.
If You're Sitting on a Folder of Unfinished Tracks
Here’s what I’d challenge you to do:
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Pick one project. Not the best one. The one that feels closest to done.
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Finish it in one sitting. It’s not about perfection — just resolution.
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Release it — even to a small circle. Friends, Discord, SoundCloud. Doesn’t matter. Send it into the world.
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Celebrate the courage. Not the metrics.
Because once you realize you survived it — that nothing broke — something clicks.
Releasing is not the end of the process. It’s the beginning of your next level.
Final Note
If you're stuck in a loop of endless 8-bar bangers and chorus-only demos...
You're not lazy. You're not broken.
You’re just protecting your dream from risk.
But that dream needs risk. It needs exposure. It needs momentum. And momentum begins when you finally say:
“Done is good. Let’s move on.”
So finish the thing.
Bounce the track. Post the link. Tell the story behind it.
Let it be raw. Let it be imperfect. Let it be you.
That’s where the real music begins.