I woke up one morning in the late 90’s and the phrase that was ringing in my head like the bells of Notre-Dame was “You’re doing it all wrong!”. For years, I had been thinking that the process to the success-filled life and career I wanted was:
– Step 1: Get Good
– Step 2: Get Gigs
– Step 3: Get Money
This was the thinking that was drilled into my head by schools. This was the process that I let other musicians in my locale foist upon me.
(…if I had a nickel for every time I heard somebody say “You just gotta be good and be a nice guy, man.”)
The problem with this process was that I just kept capping out on my earnings. Between teaching lessons and playing gigs, I always seemed to hit a ceiling of somewhere between $55,000-65,000 per year.
I can already hear you screaming at your screen… “What’s wrong with THAT?!” and I get it.
If all I wanted for myself and my life was to wake up everyday to teach some lessons and play some gigs, then I had accomplished “the mission” by the time I was 30 years old. With hard work and determination, I’d replaced a job I hated (i.e. working in a hospital) with my dream career.
Here’s the problem: While I was capping out on my income, I was also capped out on my ability to have and do many of the things that I had come to REALLY want. Owning all my favorite drums and cymbals, having my own professional quality home studio, owning my own home (because apartment life kinda stinks), taking a vacation once a year, and so many of the other things I wanted for myself were DECADES away… not months… or even years.
At that time, I had one reasonably good drum set, two snare drums, and one small assortment of cymbals that were supposed to cover all of the possible kinds of gigs I would get called for (or that I’d want to be called for). I had zero means of recording myself other than renting time at a very expensive studio in town (which I usually could not afford).
To top it off, I was really tired of listening to the apartment neighbors on one side of me fighting all day and night while the ones on the other side blasted mariachi music well past 2AM while at same time, the folks above me were chasing their 4 preschool-aged children around and constantly rattling my ceiling like a herd of buffalo.
So, I had to change my thinking. I needed to change my mindset, and I surely needed to ditch the “Get Good, Get Gigs, Get Money” mentality that many of the other musicians around here had saddled me with following.
I started looking around for other advice, other ways or thinking, and other points of view. What I stumbled on were ways of thinking about myself as an entrepreneur and of building a business that were light years beyond anything I could have comprehended previously. A lightbulb went off in my head and I started to think differently.
(And yes, I caught a ton of flack from some of the people in my scene for daring to think outside the box…. but that’s a different story for a different day.)
Well, it took me almost a decade but I was able to leverage this new mindset into a whole new set of skills that got my income up to consistently landing in the coveted Six Figure Territory. Before COVID, it was “normal” for me to net over $200,000 a year using my skills, knowledge, and experience as my chief commodities.
I can already hear you screaming at your screen again… “Dude, what’s wrong with THAT?!”
Well, if I’m being honest, this new work life also had some pretty significant problems.
First off, 70-80 hour work-weeks were the norm. I rarely took days off and I was lucky to sleep 4-5 hours a night. My home life was great because I was never there (but when I was… I really wasn’t). I started dealing with health problems and depression and exhaustion and a host of other issues that I created because again, I was simply going about this all wrong.
And then… COVID hit.
Talk about needing change… I now needed another complete shift in paradigm.
So, for the last two years, while doing the paying work that I’ve always done as a musician, engineer, producer, educator, and professional creative person, I once again started seeking out new methods and mindsets. I have read 10X as much as I ever did before and I have started to think differently again about who I am, what I do, and how I do it.
At this point in my life, there is a much better way to live, work, and create. That’s why I am writing this to you. That is why I am pledged to start sharing the things I am reading, and watching, and listening to with you.
Up to this point, I have kept a lot of my most effective thoughts and processes to myself… probably out of fear.
Fear that people wouldn’t understand. Fear of how others might think of me. Fear that someone else would take these ideas and processes and take my place in my market. (Sounds pretty self centered, doesn’t it?)
So, that’s one of the reasons why I put this virtual clubhouse together. I want to share stuff with you. I want to be transparent with you. I want you to see how I think and how I execute. It’s my hope that you will find some of this stuff valuable. It’s my belief that you can take this information and make your own place in the world that NO ONE can take from you.
I’m not here to sell you some “Get Rich Quick” scheme or passive income course. I’m not really here to sell you anything… are you paying to read these words? Nope.
Today, I am going to share something with you that I watched last week. In this video, there is a TON of great business information. If you will insert your own particulars in place of this guy’s gym and health-related businesses, you will find this video to be a goldmine of valuable knowledge.
And, let me just tell you now: Ignore the clickbait video title and please forgive that ridiculous thumbnail. I HATE that we live in a world where people have to do those things to get others to stop long enough to get some actionable advice. It’s stupid. It sucks, and I wouldn’t do it myself.
Now, get out a notebook and pen. Take copious notes through this whole presentation and maybe watch it 3 times to sift out all of the good that you will find here.
The point here isn’t to get rich. The point is to Think Differently. Now, let’s hit play on that video below and get rid of that shirtless dude with the porn stache.
(And thanks for making it all the way to the end of this long post.)