2:31 PM, Friday December 1st 2023
It sure is, for me this is affecting any hobby/activity (I used to play guitar and sing A LOT for years, like 8hrs every day, and yeah it basically became an obsession to be "the best" which I know is 100% unrealistic (more like insane) but I guess my "animal brain" doesn't want to listen. So once I completely burned out and only hatred remained, and switched to art, and boy starting out with drawing is really really hard when I haven't learned my lesson. I was driven by getting accepted to uni which was in the following 2 years, I probably would've quit if it wasn't for that. I was so frustrated and angry all the time, which left a mark on the speed of my progress and relationship with the hobby. Thankfully I got accepted and placed high up so that told me I did good and I was able to slow down, and most of all, stop angering myself with human anatomy and focus more on the areas I love most (landscapes, plein air, fantasy) but then social media got into my head with the "necessity" to post constantly, to please the people there (and not myself) so now I'm on a long break and don't want to return until my mentality changes for the better. I'm also simultaneously working on a hobby without the goal of mastering it and competing so that I can better test it out. I procrastinated on art a lot with learning Japanese and now my interest in it decreased as I increased time for art so I'm still figuring it out. I'm also trying to learn new things, especially stuff that one can learn quickly (folding clothes differently to save space, whistling, cooking meals etc.) which motivates me. And It's also a good idea to do activities you're good enough at and don't plan on necessarily mastering so there's a higher chance of enjoying these (exercise, sports, reading, cooking, crafts etc).
I can recommend some books that might help - Art and Fear (it couldn't get more specific haha), The Wisdom Of Insecurity, The Gift of Fear (I haven't read these last 2 but I'll get to them once I finish the first one. Having a healthy and rational mindset is the hardest part of anything for me haha, and it has to affect every area of every activity. I've also started to meditate and journal every end of the day so I hope it helps at least a little.