Your Contribution

Are you content with your contribution?

…maybe that’s too conclusive of a way to ask it. Let’s try this…

Are you content with what you’re contributing?

But then some may need to take a step further back…

What are you contributing?

Because we’re all contributing something. Even the couch potato, believe it or not. And our contribution goes far beyond what we do…it goes deep into who we are as we’re doing what we do.

Another powerful addition to the questions above is adding ‘right now’ to the end of each one. It gives you the reminder that the answers can (and will) change.

 

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Your Answers Will Vary

When someone connects with your music, what is it they’re connecting with?

If you’re not that good live, why?

How do your skills and dreams help other peoples’ dreams come true?

If you don’t achieve the heights of success you hope for, will you still be glad you went on the journey?

What were the circumstances surrounding you at your best moments? Are they reproducible?

Who makes things better when they’re around?

 

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Music and Lifestyle

When we were young we were looking for music AND lifestyle. We didn’t have a lifestyle (or a style) yet so along with adopting the music as our own we wore the same clothes as the artist, assumed the same outlook and attitude, talked like them, thought like them, prioritized like them.

Listening to the music was about more than the feeling it gave us…it was about identity. We were absent our own lifestyle, and music came along and gave us both a feeling and a lifestyle.

As we get older we tend to appreciate new music for what it is…new music. Our lifestyle is already pretty set (in part thanks to the music from our formative years) and we’d rather stick with what we’ve got.

We have clothes we like, a posture we’ve become known for, beliefs that have gotten us this far and a priority list that extends way beyond blending in with the latest wave.

This idea has a powerful effect on how you market to your audience. What are they looking to you for? Does that line up with what you’re offering? How will you know you’re making a difference?

 

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Massage Talk

If the masseuse says ‘wow you’re tense’…I don’t know of anyone who would be surprised.

If the masseuse then asked ‘what’s all this tension’…you would easily be able to rattle off your list. But the masseuse doesn’t tell you to change your lifestyle. In part, your tension keeps them in business.

Perhaps the more interesting thing would be if the masseuse were to say ‘wow you’re not tense at all’. Even if it weren’t true it might help you think you’re more relaxed than you actually are…which just might end up making you more relaxed than you were.

 

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Two Posts About No

Maybe they said no because they had spicy Thai for lunch but it was a little too spicy now they feel sweaty and uncomfortable and just want you to go away.

Maybe they said no because you forgot to bring a briefcase of cash.

Maybe they said no because they already have one like you.

Maybe they said no because they’re not in the business of working with one like you.

Maybe they said no because you didn’t ask for a yes.

Maybe they said no because they didn’t like the song.

Maybe they wanted to say yes but they said no because they knew their boss would say no.

Maybe they said no because they don’t see what’s in it for them.

Maybe they said no because it was winter and they hate winter.

Odds are all of these reasons are simply ‘no for now’ and can be changed with time, a specific vision and plan…and persistence.

——

Here's a short list of things that can turn no’s into yes’s...and each have their own consequences.

Krispy Kreme donuts

Enthusiasm

A million dollars

Memorizing all the relevant names

A thousand dollars

Time

Begging

A funny story

Picking up the tab

Initiating contact

Letting the other person initiate contact

Caring for the other person’s dreams

A good hair cut

Shared experiences

Faith

Naivety

Maturity

Proceeding as though they said yes (super risky)

Camaraderie in your organization

Amazing songs

Playing to your strengths

Whisky

 

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple