Maybe the finances are tight. Maybe we failed to win over a client. Perhaps a conversation with the significant other didn’t go over so well.
But not everyone wants to do something about their circumstances. It’s okay if you don’t want to act. But the more honest you are about where you stand on the matter, the better.
If you don’t want to do anything about your situation, you should prepare to live with it. It is a perfectly acceptable path.
The problem arises when we’re confused about acting or not acting. If we’re confused, 1) we won’t do the things necessary to change our circumstances, and 2) the quality of our actions will be unsure, tentative, and ineffectual.
If our finances are tight, we could hope and pray for a solution. We could buy a lottery ticket. We could beg our friends for money.
All things being equal, it’s better to do something rather than nothing.
But I would not say that any of the above are quality actions, especially given they are not long-term solutions.
If you need to make some mistakes before seeking out better solutions, there is nothing wrong with that. But a person who is earnest about finding a solution will dedicate as much time as they possibly can to the problem, researching, studying, journaling, documenting, tracking, measuring, asking questions, getting into conversations, and seeking out coaching and mentors, until they’ve illuminated previously unseen blind spots.
Be honest with yourself – if you are doing anything less than that, can you honestly say you want to do something about your situation?
If you’re going to do something about your situation, don’t sit on the fence. Muster all the time, energy, and resources you can in overcoming the challenge. Even if you fail, your commitment will not be in vain. The Universe will move mountains on your behalf. But if you don’t begin, very little will happen.
Do you want to do something about it? Sit with that question and know your answer as a “yes” or “no,” not as a “maybe.” Only you can do this for you.
Because the moment we see something isn’t going well, we tend to think everything is going awry.
If you were to assume, just for a moment, that the universe is taking you on the shortest, most direct path to your desire…
And if you were to assume that path wasn’t free of complication…
Wouldn’t you begin to embrace the roller-coaster ride you’re on?
You wanted this experience. Desired it.
Somewhere along the line, you forgot that a journey, an adventure, is exactly what you wanted.
So, when we embrace the path, regardless of how it looks, we stop adding resistance to it.
Letting go of that resistance helps us rise to the next level. It takes us to the next step in our journey.
When we focus on the problem, we can end up back at square one.
It’s more enjoyable to stay on the ride than to have to start the process all over again.
You don’t need more secrets. You just need to follow your bliss!
Transcription:
The bottom line is you follow your bliss, you follow what you’re excited about, you keep at it. You enjoy the process. You allow things to unfold. You don’t resist the “bad things” that come up. You rise to the challenge and then you make it to the next level.
Shh… Don’t tell anyone. Only the cool kids are talking about it.
That might be a bit of an understatement. What they usually say is:
“You need to write an article about that!”
Or…
“Have you written an article about that?”
Well, there are too many moments like that to count. So, capturing the idea, in text or audio form, as quickly as possible, has become the standard procedure here.
The following audio/video is much more powerful in context of the conversation that was being had. But it still encapsulates something critical – that there aren’t necessarily more secrets to learn, only more challenges to rise to.
When the universe sees us rising to those challenges instead of resisting them, it can bring us to the next part of our journey. And that can take a long time to learn, but it’s worth it.
Recognize that the universe is always on your side, taking you on the shortest, most direct path to what you want. The only thing the universe didn’t promise is that the path would somehow be easy.
Transcription:
The thing that we often do that’s not true is that “oh, there’s a secret, and then there’s a secret behind the secret.” It’s not that.
Just feel good now. Feel as good as you possibly can. Every experience should be pleasurable, and fun, and enjoyable. And then you know you’re in alignment with your purpose, your identity, your person – everything you were meant to do in this world and the difference you were meant to make.
When every experience is pleasurable, like Christmas eve and you know there’s going to be presents the next morning. Then you know you are perfectly in alignment with you.
This doesn’t mean there aren’t uncomfortable experiences. It doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges to rise to. In fact, those challenges are just letting you know that that’s what’s next. That’s what you’ve got to do now.
The universe is so good at letting you know, “Hey, this is what’s next. It’s uncomfortable. It doesn’t feel good right now. If you just jump over this hurdle though, massive breakthrough lies on the other side.”
Shh… Don’t tell anyone. Only the cool kids are talking about it.
Perhaps, based on what I’ve just shared with you, you’re starting to connect the dots.
It takes something to take all those hits and keep getting back up.
I’m alluding to one of my favorite Rocky quotes here:
But when I say something, it’s because I know it’s different for everyone. “A lot” or “a little” is impossible to measure, and what might stop someone dead in their tracks might be a little bump in the road for another.
If you’re pursuing your passion, you must know that road is paved with challenges.
Taking Hits & Getting Back Up
So, if you think mindset doesn’t matter, you’re talking to the wrong guy.
In my life, each challenge and tragedy stacked onto the other, to the point where any time anything negative happened in my life, it started feeling like the end of the world. That’s what happens when you have all negative experiences collapsed onto each other.
If you want to take those hits and keep getting back up, you’d better have a strong mindset. You’d better believe in yourself and your ultimate success, whatever that may look like.
Because if you don’t, I’m sorry to say, you will quit. You will give up. You won’t give yourself a fair chance at achievement.
Something will always come along and stop you dead in your tracks, even as you’re trying to make things happen in your career.
The Mindset to Succeed
How do you strengthen your mindset?
Are you engaged in personal development?
Do you have a support group, people you can count on when things don’t go as planned?
Is there something you can fall back on when things go awry – financial runway, a backup plan, a way to get back in the game?
How do you handle challenges? How do you learn from them and carry those lessons into your life moving forward?
Are you willing to pay the price for success, whatever that may look like?
If you’re ready to take your mindset to the next level, you need The Music Entrepreneur Code. You can learn more here.
The subtitle of my latest book, The Music Entrepreneur Code is:
How to Get Paid for Your Passion and Impact More Fans Without Wasting Years of Your Life and Thousands of Dollars.
This subtitle is reflective of the fact that creating an independent life has been a long, circuitous, challenging road for me.
I’ve spoken elsewhere about the many challenges I’ve encountered on that journey:
Here’s another bulleted list of challenges I have yet to share anywhere.
While building my music career (and having some wins along the way) I also ended up:
Grieving the loss of my cousin who took his own life. This happened while I was recording my first album, Shipwrecked… My Sentiments.
Burning out and getting an anxiety disorder. In ensuing years, I was also plagued by thyroid and adrenal fatigue. But when I was going through it, I had no idea what it was or how to overcome it.
Breaking up with my girlfriend.
Losing my grandpa.
Living with the worst roommate imaginable. For six months.
Having to take on five jobs to stay afloat financially.
Going broke and having to sell my house.
Taking multi-year detour into network marketing. I don’t regret this experience, but it turned out to be a significant part of my six-figure business education.
Breaking up with another girlfriend.
Investing $60,000 in a music industry startup that failed in a matter of three years. “Unfortunate” doesn’t begin to cover the bases of what happened.
Running my beater car into the ground shortly after a run-in with a cow’s head on the highway, nearly dying in the process. I didn’t dare drive for a few days.
Going broke again.
Enduring burnout again.
Running another beater car into the ground.
Breaking up with another girlfriend.
Running yet another beater car into the ground.
Going broke again.
…You get the idea.
Is this what your musical journey will look like?
It could, and it probably will if you choose not to get coaching or otherwise invest in your growth.
But it certainly doesn’t have to…
Because I wrote The Music Entrepreneur Code to help you with this very thing.
I didn’t have to write it. No one was holding me at gunpoint.
I wrote it because I wanted to help those who understand that you can see further when you stand on the shoulders of those who’ve gone before you.
Those who’ve made all the mistakes…
Endured all the challenges…
And been put through the ringer repeatedly.
I made my book so affordable, in fact, that virtually anyone can afford it.
I even tossed in a couple of bonuses.
Again, I didn’t have to do this. I’ve got to make a living like anyone else. And every week I work my butt off to do exactly that.
But I wanted to make sure everyone who understands the value of the book gets a copy.
I wanted to make sure that if you know the trauma of wasting years and thousands of dollars on things that don’t work, you got a copy.
You can go it alone, but I think you can improve your odds considerably by trusting someone who started out much dumber, much denser, much more naïve than you. Trust me, I did start out that way.
I’ve curated years and years of advice, experience, stories, breakthroughs, and did the hard work of putting it all into one book, The Music Entrepreneur Code. It’s done. It’s ready. It’s for you!
