With the advent of the wax cylinder, records, 8 tracks, cassettes, CDs and streaming…the number of people who have listened to great music is well into the billions.
And yet very few have converted the feeling of listening to great music into the act of writing great music.
Maybe it’s because the process of writing great music can’t be relied on to provide a great feeling. And that not-great feeling is a deterrent for almost everyone.
You want it all exactly how you want it. But you’re not going to get it all exactly how you want it.
Instead…you might get some of what you want.
So what do you really want? And what elements are you willing to adjust, compromise, give up and sacrifice in order to get it?
Making it in this business especially as an artist is so hard. And the difference between what you hoped for vs. reality is enough to steal away most childhood dreams…that is…unless you’re specific and clear about what you want and are willing to adjust for ambition while maintaining relentless work ethic and constant focus.
When you hand something to a toddler it doesn’t take long for it to become ‘mine’.
And this creates a lot of problems when it gets taken away…but the great thing is the toddler plays with it as though there’s complete ownership. No questions. No doubts. I have this thing and it’s mine and it’s time to party.
It pays to think that what you have is what you ought to have and is yours to go do something with.
I know there’s no chef at Starbucks whipping up the breakfast sandwiches in the back from scratch.
I know the sandwiches at Starbucks come in a plastic bag.
But as long as I don’t see the plastic bag I’m good.
I don’t need them to fool me, I just need them to direct my attention to the better story…that the sandwich comes from the oven, not from the bag.
No one loses.
It's easy to kinda say something. It's hard to say something.
»» We preface with words like like, kinda, sorta to put padding between ourselves and the thing we really mean to say. That padding makes it easier for us to deflect any pushback that we might receive. After all we didn’t really say the thing, we just kinda said it.
It’s hard to speak with certainty and clarity because most of us don’t have much practice doing it. Rather, we have lots of practice saying things in ways to dodge responsibility and decisiveness. Side stepping clarity for the sake of what the other person might think is belittling the other person.
Leading isn’t about having the most opinions…but rather building a team of people whose vision and opinions you value and trust.
And leading isn’t about ‘power over’ but rather ‘power to’.
Power to influence, initiate, build connections and make some big hard decisions that are going to affect everyone involved.
So much has been written about leadership but it’s worth remembering that much of it comes down to caring and serving as your crew heads in a certain direction.