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Most of You Are Planning to Fail

by | Oct 9, 2011 | Creative Arts, Music | 11 comments

Yes, I mean it: most of you are planning to fail and here’s why starting with the biggest, and most common problem:

You Want to SUCCEED!

If I told you to work hard to earn money so you can buy a ticket to fly to a place, take a cab to a big field and enjoy, would you do it?

Now, what if I told you to work your guts out for long hours so you can buy a ticket to fly to San Francisco and take a cab to your 100 acre hillside retreat in Napa Valley with a 3,000 Square Ft. Victorian meets Modern home, three guest houses AND a not-for-profit kids camp for children of AIDS victims?

Both of them are examples of success, but would you work for?

The problem with wanting to succeed is that it’s just like my first question, it means nothing. What does “succeed” look like? What does it pay? When is it “done?” How much will it cost? How will you know you’ve arrived?

Without a clear tangible explanation of your personal definition of success you will NEVER put in the time, efforts and energy needed to get what you want. You’ll work hard – probably very hard – but your work work will be:

  • Unfocused: You’ll work on everything because you won’t know what’s important and what’s not.
  • Unrewarding: You’ll have small victories but you’ll have no idea if they are leading in the right direction.
  • Unsuccessful: You’ll have a life with some victories instead of a life full of successes leading to ultimate success.

I can forgive you wanting to succeed though because of your other big problem:

You’re Talented

Up to this point in your life, everyone who loves and supports you has said: “You’re so talented, you should be a STAR” and, “You have WAY more talent than so-and-so. If THEY can make it, you’ll make it too!” You therefore believe the secret to success is talent.

They lied.

Talent alone will not make you a star and there will always be someone better than you.

You Have NO Plan

Lastly, with a vague goal of “succeeding” and a total reliance on talent, it’s no wonder that you don’t have a plan.

Don’t get all defensive before you read what I call a plan:

A set of actionable goals with specific results that allow you to boldly, confidently and effectively work towards a clearly defined destination driven by a vision and mission based on who you are and the life you have to live.

So?

Unless you have all 8 parts, you are planning to fail.

What parts do you have well defined? Sorta defined? Not at all? Whatchya gonna do about that?

  • @ryanmbrewer

    solid advice. the simplest of advice is always the best.

  • Gordon Kaswell

    Years back, I read a book entitled “The Star Maker Machinery” (the title being an obvious reference to Joni Mitchell’s “Free Man in Paris,” an homage to David Geffen).  The book had all sorts of sage advice, nearly all of it irrelevant, now.  But the author said the following, and I can almost quote:

    If you’re good looking, and you have no talent, you won’t make it in the music business.

    If you’re average looking and you have talent, you might make it in the music business.

    If you’re good looking and talented, you probably will make it in the music business.

    It was true in the 80s.  It’s REALLY true, now, with technical “advances” like auto-tune enabling truly mediocre talents become stars.

    So my advice to people who want to succeed in the music business is to start by being really good looking.  Once you have that down develop a bit of talent, and you’ll probably be OK.

    Or, you could redefine success to mean making the music you want to make, and making a living at it by performing, composing, producing, engineering, teaching, etc.  The odds of becoming a major star are astronomically small.  But if you’re creative and smart, you could become a success.

  • alt

    and whay if you are not ‘good looking’ but possess crazy amounts of talent?…Dylan, Lennon, Hendrix, Joplin, Freddie Mercury, etc etc the list is endless (all beautiful people in my book btw)

  • http://stevegrossmanonline.com Steve Grossman

    Thanks for the comment and thoughts Gordon. I especially like and agree with “Or, you could redefine success to mean making the music you want to
    make, and making a living at it by performing, composing, producing,
    engineering, teaching, etc.” That’s my primary hope with what I do – that musicians will create successful lives on THEIR terms. As far as stardom today? I actually think it’s “easier” because of the availability of tools, globalization and the fact that those two together mean your BOUND to find enough fans somewhere somehow. Thanks again!

  • http://stevegrossmanonline.com Steve Grossman

    Good point Alt. I think today’s market is even more open to people like this. Thanks for commenting.

  • http://stevegrossmanonline.com Steve Grossman

    Thanks Ryan, appreciate the support.

  • Gordon Kaswell

    The people you’ve mentioned are indeed very talented, and all of them became famous before the advent of MTv.   I think the best songwriters to come down the pike in quite a while are Jill Sobule and Matt Scanell.  But neither one is a megastar.

    It’s a great time to be a musician, because you can do great work and make great recordings without having to sell your soul to a record company.  But it’s also a difficult time to be a musician, because you can spend so much time working on your Internet marketing/promo skills that your music suffers from neglect.

    I’ve had some success in this business, including some international publishing and a major film festival award, but I’m still not anything like a household name.  No matter.  I love what I do, and I’m making some money doing it.  There are plenty of niches out there! 

  • David Jenkins

    Years ago I sat down with Jay Lowy, who at the time was head of Motown music and president of the Grammy organization. I played him some songs I wrote and he suggested I focus on just one area of the music biz and really work it. Great advice. But I do think that having a devoted mentor is extremely helpful because having that kind of support keeps us on track while we create and market ourselves and go thru the ups and downs as artists. Finding a great mentor is not easy, I admit, but very necessary if you want to get on track and stay on track. Without one we tend to go in multiple directions that don’t necessarily serve us.

  • Gordon Kaswell

    Finding a mentor is a great idea.  Short of that, I think it’s a big help to have people who support what you do and/or work with you in some capacity.  For example, if you can partner with someone who understands online networking and promotion, that’s one less “hat” you have to wear, giving you more time to work on what it’s really all about: the music.

  • Gordon Kaswell

    Oh, and just because I’m feeling loquacious, here’s another suggestion: Make sure you spend some time in a recording studio.  When you listen back to what you’ve recorded it’s a great form of “bio-feedback.”  You’ll get a somewhat objective take on what you do well, and what needs improvement.  If you do your own engineering, that’s even more helpful, in some respects, because you’ll understand the gear better, and use it more effectively.

    Surprisingly, this results in better LIVE performances.  You’ll know how to give a great performance, and you’ll know how to tweak the sound system so that the audience can properly hear that great performance.  That all translates into more gigs, more money, and more fun.

  • http://stevegrossmanonline.com Steve Grossman

    I’m a big advocate for musicians getting good mentors – people who are in life where they want to be. In my book, I call it getting a “Board of Directors” because success is a team sport!