Read This When You Feel Like Giving Up On Music

My big Mistake

Several years ago I used to run a band. We had some local success but we had bigger aspirations. We just released our debut album and placed in a national competition. Things were looking up. One night I was hanging out with some of my bandmates when it came up that another one of our bandmates didnt like the way our band was running. The more we talked about it, the more I realized that he was talking about me and the way I was running the band. I unfortunately took it personal.

I went to sleep that night fuming. The next morning I told the band that he was being fired, and later that day I gave him a phone call. Looking back it was embarassing how I told him. I was not cool about it and even my decision to fire him is embarassing now. Had I taken the time to hear him out I could've listened to his complaints and used them to improve our band. Instead I chose to let my bruised ego take control.

Our Response-ability

I was not a mature person in this situation. I tell this story because I want you to realize that having ambition is one thing, but you must temper that ambition with the ability to zoom out and recognize different perspectives.

If you focus on a project or goal long enough you will hit an inevitable roadblock. Whether that be needing to learn a new skill or some uncontrollable setback. Your maturity will be tested. Roadblocks can happen for any number of reasons. That's not for us to figure out. What matters is how we respond to that circumstance.

It's easy to see the right choice looking back because we have a different perspective. It's much harder to see in the moment. That's why you can’t let emotion cloud your judgement. Learn to recognize where you are stuck and pivot.

Story of Robert Falcon Scott

A perfect example of this is Robert Falcon Scott. He is best known for his mission to be the first to reach the South Pole.

During his expedition Scott faced many challenges, most of which could have been prevented. Despite his hard work and determination, he and his team reached the South Pole on January 17, 1912, only to discover that the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen had beaten them to it by over a month. Tragically, Scott and his team faced extreme weather conditions resulting in their deaths. While Scott demonstrated perseverance and commitment, his lack of preparation prevented his success.

Unfortunately for him his mistake resulted in his death, but it doesn’t have to be that way for us. We have the opportunity to learn from our mistakes and try again.

Pain & Pleasure

On this journey we must choose between two roads. The road most traveled is to focus on external goals such as ‘make more money. The road least traveled is to focus on internal goals such as become more resilient in the face of adversity.

We all know the parable of the two roads, but why is focusing on external goals so dangerous?

If you only focus on external goals then you can swayed by pain and pleasure.

The pain of coming across a roadblock, or setback and having to change course. The pain of allowing those things to cause you to quit.

You can also move off course with pleasure as well. When you research a topic you get a small hit of dopamine, and it makes you feel like you have done something. True learning comes from experience. You need to actually start something so you can be aware of what else you need to learn.

When you focus on your inner self you can focus on becoming the person that you want to be. This not only makes it more likely for you to achieve your goal, but you are actually in control of all of the variables.

This is why focusing on the internal goals as you accomplish your external goals is key. Ambition is good, but without becoming the type of person that achieves the result you want, you won’t go very far.

When an obstacle comes in your way stop and ask what would a person that has already accomplished this do?

3 Steps for Becoming a Better You

1. Use Your Creative Vision to Become the Best Version of Yourself

Creativity is the skill that makes us human. It's why we rose over the other animals on this planet. When we create we use our insight to bring into life something that lives inside of our head. We usually develop this skill for painting, composing music, and writing stories.

Using this skill to create art is a great thing, but you could use the same skill to create you. The is the essence of self mastery. Use your imagination to find a version of yourself that inspires you and become that person. It all starts with a vision. Many people just want the result, but we forget that to acheive it we must become the person that gets the result we are looking for.

2. Develop Self-Disclipine

The type of person that you create must have self discipline. There's no way around it. The problem is that it’s easy to get distracted. We become crippled by self-doubt, the success of others, and quick dopamine activities.

The way to overcome this is to focus on output goals instead of results. Be mentally disciplined enough to focus on things you can control. Remember that where you are now is the culmination of the habits that you do on a regular basis. If you want to change your results change your habits.

3. Let your ambition be tempered by principle

In the book, The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle says

Every artist sets out on a journey to express something that is way deeper than the conscious can be aware of. Don't let the external world sway you from acting on principle. You can have external ambitions, but don't let them change who you are.

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul.” - Mark 8:36

You can succeed at your external goals and still be unhappy. You can likewise completely screw up your external goals and still find a way to be happy. The key is to pursue your dreams and let your pursuit be governed by principle.

Conclusion

You are your worst critic and your biggest advocate, but you must choose which one you listen to moment by moment. It is not enough to have a dream and ambition. Share your art as you discover who you are. This is the role of an artist.

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