The Six Letter, Four Letter Word

Hey Heroes!

This week let's take a look at "Change", and what it really means.

Last week we looked at some of the negative influences that pushed us into our current mindsets and I issued a little bit of homework. Did you really look at what you consider "Success" to be?

The first step of course is to figure out what success is to you. Some Indies I've talked with are happy if they get a decent cut of the door and have a floor to crash on before heading out to the next gig. Some still see that multi-Million dollar contract with a Major Label, complete with the private jets and diamond watches. Then there is, of course, everything in between.

What if I told you that any of it could be achieved? What if I told you that you were the only thing stopping you from achieving anything you want?

I know that some folks would say that I'm delusional. OK. One thing I know for a fact though is that everything that I have ever truly wanted, and refused to let anything or anyone interfere with, has happened. If you have in your head that the best you'll ever do is drag ass from club date to club date for a low guarantee and maybe a meal, then my friend, that is all you'll ever accomplish.

The other side of it's true as well. The Major Labels are full of acts that, talent wise, are nowhere near the caliber of a lot of Indie bands I've seen, but they got exactly where they were going, because they believed that they could and refused to hear anything to the contrary. Think I'm full of shit? OK. Take a look at the next MTV music awards though and tell me how much true talent you see there. What you're seeing isn't the best that music has to offer, what you're seeing are the ones that were the most driven to succeed.

What I'm saying is that only you have the ability to dream your dreams. Only you have the power to achieve those dreams. In contrast, only YOU have the power to kill those dreams, it's up to you.

In Quantum Physics there are two Laws that apply themselves to this situation.

First is the Law Of Relativity. The Law Of Relativity says that your situation is only what it is, as compared to something else. Meaning that, you are only poor as compared to that guy that has thousands of dollars in his account, and likewise, you are rich compared to the guy whose sleeping in a cardboard box under the overpass. Remember this when you're evaluating your situation. Too often we only look at how bad off we are and seldom do we look at our successes.

Second is the Law Of Attraction. The Law Of Attraction says that what you think about most you attract to yourself. This means that if you worry about your money problems, you're attracting more money problems. Likewise, if you're focused in on, and constantly visualizing the success you want, you will start attracting that success to you.

I know, this is where you check out and say "what a bunch of airy-fairy bullshit!". I hear ya, just hear me out.

Let me explain how this works. Have you ever focused on something so hard that you realize that that object suddenly appears everywhere? Example. You've always wanted a goldtop Les Paul. You think about them every day. You can see yourself on stage wailing away on one. It's your greatest goal and your biggest dream. Have you noticed that they keep popping up at shows, in magazines, hanging on the wall at the pawn shop or guitar store you run into a couple of times a week looking? It's not that they've become more plentiful, it's that by focusing so much on them you've retrained your subconscious mind to seek them out.

It works that way for anything, so use it to your advantage. Get a clear mental picture of where you want to go in your musical career. Picture it down to the shirt on your back and sweat on your nose. Hold that image. Visualize it. Love it. Let it go. Don't think about it, just wait for the opportunities to get you heading in the right direction to start appearing and take advantage of them. Repeat the process every morning.

Most importantly, be clear about what you want, and don't let anyone tell you it can't be done. Once you let doubt in, you've got to regroup and get back on track.

It's all on you. It's you're responsibility. Only you can decide to change your mind.

The Effects of Negative Input

Hey all,

As I said last week, my topic for today is the negative input that we are subjected to on a daily basis.

It's my contention that from a young age we are inundated with negativity. In fact, it's become a Social norm and I don't really think that anyone thinks anything of it. The reason for that is that it's super easy to rationalize the tactic as a benefit. Let me explain what I mean by that.

Parents feel that it's their responsibility to shield us from the hurtful things in life. It's instilled in all of us that our children are the most important things in our lives and must be protected. It's mandated by Society and Church, and it upheld by the Law, but it's also a broad and sweeping demand of people who really have no idea of what it truly means. One of my favorite sayings is "Babies don't come with instructions!", and it's true. This leads most parents to rely on the example their parents set, whether right or wrong.

When you decided to be a musician, were you encouraged to run with it and be the best you could be? Were you, like me, discouraged, or encouraged to "make sure you have a back up plan, because you really can't make a living being a musician"? I think the answer is pretty telling seeing the relative small numbers of "Successful" musicians in the world as compared to the number of bands beating themselves up in small clubs and bars every night for free drinks and cut of the door. But Mom and Dad did their job, they planted that seed in your subconscious that said "I'm going to have to have a back-up plan, because I'm not going to be able to support myself with music alone". Did they mean to? I'd say in most cases, no. Most parents truly do want what is best for their kids and don't realize the harm they're causing.

Parents aren't the only well meaning negative influences though. Our friends, our band mates, our teachers, our....................................yeah, you get the point.

So, what does this do to us? Well, I guess that depends on our mindset. Do we have the single-minded determination to pursue our dreams at any cost? Are we willing to find new friends, fire band mates, and limit time spent with family? Are we willing to find tools to help "re-train" the brain into positive and beneficial thinking? Are we really ready to start working for what we want? Or, is that just too much to ask of ourselves?

Take a little bit of time and really challenge what you think about success and see if you're working on negativity or if you're really positive you can make it. Next week I'm going to talk a little bit about making the commitment to changing you're mind about what success means.

Later,

It's a new day!

Hey all!

I've been doing some thinking since my last post and I think that I've nailed down where I want to take this blog.

Something that I've struggled with for years, is Mindset. Being in a solid, positive, motivated, and open mindset, is the key to being able to proceed in life with confidence and certainty, and it's up to us to make sure that we are in that mindset.

Society has become geared to work against us in this process. From an early age we are taught the kinds of limiting beliefs that form the basis of our belief structures.

"We don't have enough money for that."

" Money doesn't grow on trees."

"It's a tough industry, maybe you ought to think about a backup plan. Just in case."

"You can't make any money as a musician!"

Heard any of those? I thought so.

Well, in the next few posts I'm going to talk about some of the tactics and techniques that I'm using to erase and re-record those mental tapes. Maybe they'll help you as well. I hope so anyway. : )

I'm going to call this series "Exploring the Power of Affirmations". Now, before you start fixating on that mental image of Stuart Smalley, the old SNL character, do us both a favor and keep an open mind. This is a technique used by professional musicians and athletes every day.

In the first installment, I want to discuss The Effects of Negative Input.

In part two we'll go over Taking The Step of making the conscious decision to change your beliefs about success.

In part three we'll tackle how to Fake It Till You Make It.

In part four we'll wrap it up with Discovering Your Faith. And no, I'm not going to be breaking out any one's "Good Book" to try and convert you, though I may use some quotes from various religious texts to illustrate that this principle has been used world wide and over the span of history, by some of the greatest people to have ever graced the planet.

So, if you're still with me, join me next week and we'll start exorcising those limiting beliefs so that we can get on with getting on.



Later,

Be the Change You Want To See

How do you label success? What does that word mean to you? Is it the diamond encrusted Rolex? Is it the Bentley in the driveway? Maybe you're not that Material. Maybe success for you is having Power or Prestige or Acclaim.

Maybe you're like a lot of Indies who have a really hard time picturing anything more than a van that doesn't leave you stranded on I-70 halfway across Kansas, or even enough money from your gig to put gas is said van.

There are virtually thousands of resources out there that can give you every tip you would ever need to reach the success you want, but they won't help one bit. Why? It's not because it's not good, or even Great advice. It's not because you're too dumb to get it. It's not even because you sleep in too late and drink too much to do the work (my personal, former excuse).

The reason that all that great advice won't help you is because it's incomplete. That's right, it's missing a step. What none of it shows you is how to leap the biggest hurtle in your path to success, yourself.

You see, from an early age we're all programmed with default settings. These settings are programmed into us from sources such as Parents, Teachers, Friends, and that weird uncle you really don't like but who scores pot for you. You get accustomed/programmed to make a certain amount of money, to drive a certain quality of car, to eat a certain type of food (I lived for many years on the Ramen diet). The conditions that you're raised in, and the people you associate with help shape your comfort level/programming.

What does this mean? Well what it means is that all the good intentions, and all the willingness, and all the wanting to change your condition are blocked by you and your own comfort level.

It's not enough to change your mind, you have to change your habits. They say that if you can do something for two weeks straight, then it becomes a habit. So, where do you start? Sorry, there's no one magic change you can make to turn you into a Multi-Million dollar recording artist, but if you take a nice hard look at how you're approaching things daily, and decide daily to change a habit that's leading you nowhere, then daily you will be getting closer to your end goal.

But wait! That's not enough. Before you can do any of that, you have to have a CLEAR goal in mind. Start with the end in mind and work back. Wanting change is a great first step, but it's a daily practice to keep it going and you have to make that commitment to yourself to put in the effort.

In the end it's worth any effort, but keep in mind that, as with all things in life, at the very core is personal responsibility. No one will do the work for you. No one will hand you your dreams. You have to be the agent for your own desires. You have to be the change you want to see.