It’s so much more fun and less scary to think about action than it is to take action.
When you think about action you get to control the variables, control the narrative, control the pace, control the outcome.
But when you take action there are too many variables to control them all. The narrative gets written by many…you’re simply an important contributor. There are starts and stops and weird left turns. And the outcome is achieved via compromise rather than complete control.
I had an artist friend of mine get some really great news recently. (There’s probably no such thing as a big break anymore, but this was big news.)
After celebrating it and talking about it for a while we figured out that the truth of the big news had been true for several months prior to getting the call. It just took a while for it to trickle down. Took a while to tie up loose ends. To get it all lined up and ironed out.
It was always happening. For months it was true before he knew it was happening.
So all the while during the highs and lows of those previous months, this moment was coming.
For every artist out there doing good work, there’s a list of things you know are going on in your career…likely outcomes, hopes, plans, goals. But then there’s another list…a list of things that are orbiting you and getting closer…but you have no idea. You can’t rely on this list but sometimes it helps to know it’s there.
The only thing music is reliable for is the feeling you get when you play it (or hear it).
Music doesn’t owe you a career. It doesn’t owe you anything.
Music doesn’t let you down. The pursuit of success and fame through music lets you down.
Music didn’t trap you in music. But many choose to suffer under the idea ‘music is the only thing I can do’.
Music doesn’t even know there’s a business built around it.
Music isn’t good for much, but the one thing it can be counted on for is powerful and magical. Spiritual, emotional, relational connection is transformative.
»» Once you take that guitar out of your bedroom you’re on a new and very different path.
The message of the limousine as it pulls up is ‘Hey everyone, start paying attention’.
And for what a limo costs it better work.
Because once you get out of the limousine the seconds are dwindling for people to notice you pulled up in a ride like that. As the limo pulls away and drives out of sight, anyone who didn’t catch a glimpse of you with the stretch now just thinks you’re a person at the same place they are. The limo has faded and so has its relevance.
And you don’t want to be the person trying to win friends and influence people by telling them what kind of car dropped you off two hours ago.
So if you utilize limo-type tactics to gain eye balls…be prepared to rent the limo again next time and the time after that and the time after that…
I was in a cover band in high school.
We played hit songs but couldn’t figure out why people weren’t really dancing.
It turns out that while we were playing hit songs, they weren’t dance songs.
If you’re not getting the desired response, you might need to change what’s on offer.
The lemonade stand is open from ten till noon.
But if we close at noon we’re gonna miss out on all the potential customers who would have walked by at twelve thirty. So we stay open till early afternoon.
But what about the late afternoon crowd? So we stay open till dinner time. But what about…
You see where this is going.
At some point you have to decide which potential customers you’re not going be concerned with.