The Approval Trap: Why External Pressure Kills Creativity & How To Reverse It

Reduce the effects of external pressures in your creative work.

There’s a moment every artist knows too well.

You’re sitting in front of your DAW with a new project open. Inside of your screen all the sounds, samples and ideas are there just waiting to be arranged.

But so is the voice that slowly gets louder...

“What will they think?”

“Is this too weird for the label?”

“Does this fit with current musical zeitgeist?”

Before you’ve made a single decision, you’re already editing in your head. You imagine all the different directions you can take this new song in. You’re already second guessing and creating for an audience that doesn’t even exist yet.

This is what I call The Approval Trap.

And it doesn’t just slow you down, it fundamentally affects what you make and how you make it.

The Invisible Judge In Your Studio

The Approval Trap roots begin with our human desire to belong. It’s hardwired and baked into us. Just think about it, it’s what kept our ancestors alive.

But the issue arises when this ancestral function bleeds into the creative realm. That’s when it becomes something else entirely.

Steven Pressfield defines it as Resistance.

Resistance is the force that shows up the moment you try to do something meaningful. It whispers doubt, amplifies fear and convinces you that the judgment of others matters more than the integrity of your own work.

For artists this can manifests itself as:

• Perfectionism that never lets you finish

• Mentally editing before you’ve even started

• The constant question: “Is this good enough for others?”

But the irony?

Music created purely for external validation often lacks a sense of personal satisfaction and authenticity.

Not only that but it invites the Impostor’s Syndrome phenomenon.

You know that feeling after creating something which makes you feel like fraud, like you’re not a real artist or like you’re work is just a half baked clone of a song that already exists.

It’s my personal opinion that the hollow performative quality to work designed purely for “the scene” or “trends” is simply made to belong and less to express.

• It checks boxes

• It follows formulas without pushing the mold

• Uses the same conventional presets and sample packs

There’s even research in creative psychology which shows that extrinsic motivation (creating for rewards, approval, or to avoid criticism) consistently produces less innovative work than intrinsic motivation.

*To be perfectly clear, this is not a bash on music that made to belong for a specific scenes, setting or purpose. All music has it’s place and even then music perception is highly subjective. What might be considered derivative vs. authentic expression is up for debate.

Confessions Of An Approval Seeker

As I wrote about in a previous letter, I spent years trapped in this approval seeking cycle.

It was a large blind spot for me.

Every project started with excitement a spark, a sound, a vision but somewhere between the idea and the execution the invisible judges would arrive.

“This melody is too simple for serious artists.”

“This arrangement is too weird for playlists.”

“This BPM is too slow for clubs.”

I’d adjust and compromise my true expression, sand down the edges until the music fit some imagined standard.

This resulted in music that didn’t feel like an authentic musical representation of myself or what I wanted to express. The songs felt like they were made by committee or a board even though I was the only one in the room.

The turning point came during a particularly frustrating session.

Out of sheer desperation, I opened a new project and made a deal with myself:

Create something you’d never release.

No rules, no genre, no audience. Just create something, anything.

What Happens When You Create For No One

That session changed something inside of me.

I made the “worst” song I could imagine, as quickly as I could.

Unconventional BPM, drums that made no sense, melodies that went nowhere, samples recorded on my iPhone.

But in all of this mess, something unexpected happened...

After 30 minutes or so of tinkering with sounds I stopped trying add elements and I got curious about the sounds I had already manifested into my project. I rested my ears for a couple of minutes and went back in. Suddenly, in this mess I began to hear whispers of potential. I began to hear what these sounds wanted to become.

What if I pushed this further?

What if I let this section breathe?

What if I layered this texture here?

The music that emerged after this felt eclectic, emotive, imperfect but most of all it felt authentic. Like it came from within me, instead of just modeling someone else work or paying homage to an already existing song.

It’s my sense that current music landscape doesn’t teach you this.

Instead, it teaches you to chase approval, to study what’s working, to optimize for algorithms and playlists.

But I see it time and time again, the artists who endure, who build careers that span years and decades (not months), are the ones who reach from their diverse musical influences and transmute it all from the inside out.

They’ve learned the revelation that took me almost a decade to learn:

External pressure isn’t the enemy, your relationship with it is.

Authentic Constraint vs. Imposed Limitation:

If there’s one lesson I want you take from this letter is that:

The external pressure exists, they are very real.

The industry has expectations.

Audiences have preferences.

Labels have agendas.

You can’t eliminate these pressures but you can reframe them.

Think of it like this...

A river doesn’t fight the rocks in its path. It flows around them, carves through them, uses them to create new patterns and rhythms. External pressure can be the same, not an obstacle to overcome but a force to channel.

This is the difference between what I call authentic constraint vs. imposed limitation.

Imposed limitation comes from fear:

• “I can’t make this because it won’t get signed”

• “I have to use this sound because it’s trending”

• “I need to fit this genre or I won’t get booked”

Authentic constraint comes from curiosity:

• “I wonder what happens if I only use samples from 1980s pop records”

• “What if I made an entire EP between 80-90 BPM?”

• “Can I create a song using only field recordings from my neighborhood?”

See the difference?

One shrinks your creative space out of fear, while the other focuses your creative energy out of interest.

A notable living example of this is Brian Eno. He created “Oblique Strategies”, which are random creative constraints flashcards which give him prompts to help him break through blocks and discover new musical territory.

The constraint isn’t the problem, the source of the constraint is.

When you choose your constraints based on curiosity rather than what’s trending, you transform external pressure from a paralyzing force into creative fuel.

You become an alchemist, not a victim.

Now that you understand the concept how can you begin putting it into action in your creative life?

Let’s get to the good stuff.

4 Steps To Transform External Pressures Into Intentional Creative Constraints

So how do you actually do this?

How do you shift from approval seeking to authentic creation?

Here’s the exercises I’ve developed for myself and taught to some artists with great success.

1) The “Create For No One” Practice

This is your foundation, the exercise is simple:

Dedicate regular sessions to making music with zero intention of sharing it. Ever.

Specific intentions:

• “Make the worst beat possible”

• “Create something in a genre you hate”

• “Use only sounds that make you uncomfortable”

When you remove the possibility of external judgment, you remove performance anxiety. Your brain stops creating for approval and starts exploring for its own amusement.

You begin to follow the sounds, rhythms, and textures that genuinely excite you, not the imagined audience.

Lastly, because of these sessions you build confidence. You remember what it feels like to create from pure curiosity and often you’ll find these “throwaway” sessions produce some interesting works.

Once you finish it you might just discover you actually do want to share it with the world after all.

2) Redefine Your Creative Constraints

Now that you’ve tasted freedom, it’s time to add structure.

Choose constraints based on curiosity, tastes and interests not on what’s “hot”.

Revisit my letter on Sonic Genealogy for the detailed guide.

But the general idea is that you ask yourself:

“What am I genuinely curious about?” not “What should I be doing?”

Constraints chosen from curiosity create focus without fear. They give you a clear direction while leaving room for discovery. This is the essence of musical authenticity, creating from genuine interest rather than external expectation.

The goal here is to develop a unique, timeless sonic signature so that your music starts to sound like you. Not because you’re borrowing from trends but because it’s built from your actual musical interests.

3) Build Your Preset & Sample Banks

Your influences shape your sound, but are they your influences, or someone else’s?

Begin to curate a personal collection of music, sounds, and textures that genuinely move you, regardless of whether they’re “cool,” “relevant,” or “on-brand.”

If you’d like a masterclass on curation read my most popular letter The Art Of Curation for the full breakdown.

Why is this so effective?

This combined with your Sonic Genealogy worksheet, you begin to give your work a unique and artisanal depth.

As composer Igor Stravinsky once said:

“Good composers borrow, great composers steal.”

But if you want to create authentic music I believe you get the best results when you steal effectively from sources that truly inspire you.

Ultimately your references become a source of creative fuel rather than anxiety. You’re not chasing trends, you’re building on a foundation of genuine taste.

4) The Authentic Constraint Challenge

Now you’re ready to put it all together.

Set a 30-day creative challenge with self imposed constraints that excite you.

Example of challenges:

• 30 days of 80-90 BPM beats using only vintage drum machines

• One track per week for a month, each inspired by a different decade

• Daily 15-minute improvisations using only field recordings I capture that day

Get creative with it and put your own twist on these. These are just quick examples I came up with this moment.

These exercises combine the freedom of creative exploration with the structure of consistent practice. You’re building a powerful creative habit while also developing your unique voice.

The constraint provides focus while the timeline creates urgency.

By the end of 30 days, you’ll have developed new techniques, discovered new sounds, and most importantly proven to yourself that you can create prolifically without external validation.

Building A Sanctuary, Not a Resume

Create an environment where you’re free to express what you’re afraid to express.

— Rick Rubin

A lot of artists treat their creative practice like a job or task that must be done. Every track then feels like a resume line, and every release like a tryout for approval. This is both exhausting and unsustainable.

The artists who last (at least from what I’ve seen) are those who approach creativity differently.

They build a sanctuary around their creative process.

This doesn’t mean you ignore the industry. It doesn’t mean you don’t release music, seek opportunities, or build an audience. It simply means you create from a place of internal alignment first.

When your creative practice is rooted in authentic curiosity rather than approval seeking, your perspective shifts:

• You finish more music because you’re not paralyzed by perfectionism

• You handle rejection better because your worth isn’t tied to external validation

• You enjoy the process more because creation itself is fulfilling

This is the integration of your creative practice into a sustainable, meaningful creative life rather than treating it as a separate performance to be judged.

When you stop chasing approval, you often create work that’s more worthy of it. I believe this is because authentic work resonates and it has a quality that can’t be manufactured or optimized.

Ultimately, the music industry will always have expectations, trends will come and go, algorithms will shift, and gatekeepers will have opinions.

None of that will change.

However, what can change is your relationship to it and our own approach to it.

When you develop a creative process rooted in authentic constraints you transform external pressures into an intentional exploration of sound. It’s that, more than any trend any approval, or any external validation which creates a more meaningful and fulfilling creative life.

Thank you for reading, until the next one.

— Hermes

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P.S. If you found the the contents, ideas and themes in this letter useful here’s where you can dive deeper:

Creative Foundations Vol. 2 (Free Download) - My a free guide that introduces the Musical Creative Process and gives you the essential tools to overcome creative blocks, unlock your flow, and finish more music with clarity.

Work With Me 1:1 - If you want 1 on 1 help implementing of these ideas and exercises this 2026 simply fill out the application and I’ll be in touch with your shortly.