A Break from the Story: You Aren’t Special

Posted by admin on April 6th, 2010 | 1 Comment »

I keep coming across more “artists” who think that simply because they can sing or play an instrument they are somehow “special,” different from all the rest and entitled to success.  Now, they are special, everybody is special in their own way but I’m talking about a different kind of special.  “Entitlement,” might be a better word, but the general attitude is that simply because you are an artist you feel entitled to success.

Well sorry.  That’s not how it works.

Do you want to be successful?  Do you want to make a difference, get your message across, reach millions of people, touch the lives of many?  Then work your fucking ass off.  Period.

Talent will get you as far as about a mile in a 26 mile marathon.  It will give you a one minute headstart, but then all the people who put in the work, the sweat, the time and the hours for their dreams will plow you down before you even get a taste of that you might win.

And here is the real truth.  Even when you are pursuing your absolute dream in life, there will be many times when you have to do shit that you don’t feel like doing.  Yes, even when it’s your total dream to be a musician, there will be times you don’t feel like singing, practicing, even performing!

Why are so many people in this country averse to hard work?  What is it about mediocrity that we so love?

Chapter 11: Walking the Talk and Keepin’ on Talking

Posted by admin on March 26th, 2010 | 1 Comment »

There are two very important attributes to being a leader in my opinion.  The first is “walking your talk,”  or in other words “are you full of shit or are you not.”  The second one, “keepin on talking” as I like to call it, is what I’ve had trouble being good at and what I was up against these past two weeks.

In order to be an effective leader, you have to have something that you want to say, a message, an idea that you want to bring to the world.  And part of doing that is to “keep on talking” about your message.  To be unabashed so to speak, in your commitment and confidence in spreading the word because you, the leader, believes in it so much.  This also plays beautifully into the theme of my last post which was the “Me” of music (see chapter 10 for details.)

Now, this has always been the hard part for me in being a leader.  I get scared to “keep on talking.”  Anybody else feel that way sometimes? The voice in your head says “who are you to think that you have something to say?”

This came up for me because these past two weeks, I have been in the process of hiring interns for a 3 month unpaid internship with the possibility of compensation after 3 months if they do a good job. What this has required is talking a lot about who I am, what my business is about and seeing whether it resonates with people.

I’m hiring people because I’ve reached a tipping point in my business where the rapid progress I’ve been generating has in turn, created more and more things for me to handle that I can’t handle all on my own unless I want to give up practicing and sleeping.

So I’ve had to face some fears about me “keepin on talking” about what my mission is.  Some people have been pissed off that I’m not a corporate business where they will spend most of their time making copies and coffee.  They are afraid of being “scammed” and because I’m not a household name (yet) they’re scared of being taken advantage of.  Unfortunately they are missing an opportunity to learn a lot.

So I’ve had to be really clear with people: this is a grassroots business.  You will learn a lot, and I want your creativity and passion so that you can contribute to this very exciting journey of marketing, branding, booking, performing, gigging, living, learning and breathing music.

And lo and behold, in facing my fears and confidently telling the truth about who I am, where I am at, and what I am offering, it seems like I am assembling a team of excited, intelligent and passionate people who I’m sure I will learn a lot from as well.

What have I learned?  That believing in yourself and being honest and humble about who you are…vulnerable so to speak, you attract the right people into your circle.  I’m very excited to start working with these very passionate people who share a deep commonality with me: the deep love of music.

Welcome aboard.

(Just to address it so it’s not hanging in the air, I said that I would publish my next 6 week radical plan last Friday, and I haven’t yet.  It’s because I am still solidifying it, and as soon as I solidify it, I will publish it, probably by next Friday. )