Exposing Your Flaws
The other day on Skype, Brandon and I had the pleasure of catching up with a friend and musician from Seattle; Mr. Darin Jones of Jones and Fischer, aka, our wedding band and the loves of our life!! We discussed many music business idea’s to help further each of our DIY careers, one of which really stuck with me. So much so that I chose to ramble on about it in this week’s blog!
He and his bandmates are currently doing an exercise called “Exposing Our Flaws”. They have drawn on a white board the many components that go into growing a great business and brand in the music industry. Then they methodically researched the bands & musicians that they admire and from there they look at each component on the white board, rate those bands on each element and then rate themselves in comparison to clearly expose where their flaws are and to see what really makes them different from the musicians that have “made it.”
I realize that most people who aren’t in the industry could still think that for us musicians “making it big” is like in the movies and TV shows… one talented girl is playing at a no name bar and the big bad ass agent or label executive just so happens to walk in for a night cap only to discover her and make her an over-night sensation!!!
Believe me, we all have that fantasy but pardon my French…Yeah f%^king right people! It’s 2015! No one is plucked from obscurity and made into a STAR. This business is no different from any other. Tons of people want a piece of the pie and having talent or a great product to sell should be a given, but that’s not enough to makes you rich or famous!
So what does?
What makes you so different from those successful people that you admire??
Why are they so damn special???
Well, I hate to break it to you in my not-so-gentle way but IT’S YOU!
You’re the reason darlin’!
My step mom and I were talking about Millennial’s the other day (no clue why) and after some light Googling I learned that my generation is considered “Impatient and self-entitled.” Some say it’s because our parents instilled the concept that we can be anything we want to be when we grow up, allowed us to follow our hearts rather than necessarily in their footsteps. While that to me is a beautiful thing to pass on to your children, I’m wondering if it’s biting us in the ass now. I mean… I do hate waiting for ANYTHING and when I’m researching new singer/songwriters I naturally become quite jealous if their career is farther along than mine. Millennial much? Haha
Well my fellow Millennial’s let me ask you this, when is the last time you strategically compared yourself to those that you aspire to be? I can honestly tell you, besides their vocal chops, stage presence, and clothing style, I haven’t done much of this of any kind! Even though I know how the game works, I still subconsciously assume someone handed them a big break even though as stated above, this is almost NEVER the case!
I realized after Darin explained “Exposing Our Flaws” that I am a prime example of a young entrepreneur who assumes that with my talent and passion it will just magically happen one day. However, like a fabulous fitness transformation, it does not now, nor will ever happen just by wishing for it and no magic pill can change that…at least yet…I am still holding off for that pill from “Limitless” to hit the market! #TheDream
So it’s time to pull back that curtain you’re hiding behind and get real with who you are and how you can be better. Some might read this and get all high and mighty about the detriments of comparing yourself to others and what it can do to your self-esteem but I say, it’s time for us self-entitled Millennial’s to take a few hard knocks and realize that we hardly have our sh%t together nearly as much as our Instagram accounts portray.
Get real about your life and goals, do the research and see what makes you different than your idols. I’m sure there are tangible and measurable differences, you just have to expose them! Our world today with all of its social media and brilliant pyramid schemes make it so that anyone really can be wildly successful. It just takes a lot of strategy and creativity to stand out. So get to work.