Greetings from your friendly neighborhood Murderer.™
I can't stress enough the importance of handwriting your "to-do list" and goals daily. Done correctly, this puts clearly in front of you what must be accomplished today, in what order, and to what end.
Unfortunately, the holiday season can clobber your motivation with its overload of cheer and excess. I speak from experience. Like, this year experience. I am totally not taking my own medicine and there it is on Front Street.
I keep saying, I'll pick it up at the start of the year! And making excuses and concessions with no shame. If I were to simply pick up a notebook, and write down the things I need to do NOW (sure you can put them off till later, but that's not what winners do), and the reasons why I'm doing them (i.e. what I aim to achieve through their completion; long and short term) - I've just gotten myself laser-focused.
It's these lulls in productivity that separate the successful from the unsuccessful. That's not to say I'm not successful ;) but this lapse I've been taking is only holding me back from reaching what I've set out to attain.
You, and I, must hold ourselves accountable. Commit to a high standard, and watch as we achieve higher and higher levels of success. All because we wrote some things down in the morning, every day. How silly is it not to do that?!
I'm going to write my list right now...
THINGS TO DO TODAY
1 Write Blog Post [X] 9:00 am
2 Spend Time With Family [X] 10:00
3 Work Day Job [ ] 12:00-4:00
4 Make Some Beats [ ] 4:00-6:00
5 Prospect For Clients [ ] 6:00-7:30
6 Go For a Nice Walk With Family [ ] 7:30-8:30
WHAT WILL THIS ACCOMPLISH
1 Keep me in touch with people of like mind to share ideas and experience.
2 Keep me connected to why I must work and produce and what life is really about.
3 Pay the bills baby.
4 Constant practice ensures highest performance, which betters both my business and me as a person.
5 You're only as good as your last sale.
6 Exercise keeps you fit and feeds oxygen to the brain - stimulating creativity. And family time! :D
GOAL STATEMENTS
I am a successful & financially independent music producer & entrepreneur.
I live in a beautiful, but modest home on the water with my family.
We are all in perfect health, and live in wonderful happiness & harmony together.
I do what I love every day, with the people I love, in the place that I love.
.... ..... ....
So you see, I wrote 6 tasks in the example when in reality, your handwritten list would be better to include every task of your day, scheduled to the minute. Meals, even, should be written in. Time spent reading or listening to education materials should be scheduled. This serves to keep you on task, but also to give you a feeling of accomplishment as you check off each item when it is finished.
The next portion was the "to what end" piece. Why is completing these tasks beneficial to you? "What's in it for me?" These could be both long and short term. Putting this on paper makes it crystal clear in your mind why doing these tasks is important. When you see what you're getting out of it, it makes it that much more difficult to leave any of the tasks undone.
Finally, goal statements. Always write goal statements as if you've already attained the goal. This puts positive energy "out there" as well as keeping you in a pleasant mind state as you imagine your accomplishments. Slowly, over time and with undying persistence, these goals will be achieved, and replaced with fresh new goals.
To wake up and just float through the day with no purpose is just not acceptable any more. Be task oriented, knowing what you must do, when, and why.
Don't let sleeping off a hang over from too much eggnog derail your train to success. I'm telling you this, but I'm really telling myself. After all - I could be working right now. lolz.
Till next time.
-Mike
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Saturday, December 20, 2014
The Top 5 Reasons Rappers Fail
Greetings from your friendly neighborhood Murderer.™
We're on the cusp of a brand new year, and nothing would make me happier than to see the artists I work with succeed! I put together a quick list of what I feel to be the top 5 reasons rappers never make it out the gate.
In no particular order...
5 Ego
An over-the-top ego is never attractive. Whether it be in personal relationships, or in business. You must learn to keep the super-inflated ego on the tracks you're rapping on, and maintain a humble confidence in dealings with the public and possible business associates.
4 Not Staying True to Yourself
The purpose of making music should always be self-expression. Through expressing your thoughts, emotions and ideas, listeners will connect to your message. Compromising yourself by adopting gimmicks or jumping on the bandwagon of fads is a surefire way to fade into obscurity. That is, if you've risen above obscurity to begin with.
3 Lack of Business Skills
The music business is a BUSINESS. If you are seeking to enter & excel in it, you must learn basic business principles. Sales, marketing, promotion, etc. is just the tip of the iceberg. Those who excel with their music careers do so because they treat it as a career. A tenet of business is you only get out what you put in. A lot of artists are not willing to invest in themselves, yet expect others to do so. Do not fall into this trap.
2 Laziness & Wishful Thinking
Laziness is a killer. It will kill your bank account assuredly. The only way to rise above the sprawling mass of rappers out there is to be constantly working. Releasing music is only a facet. The music must then be put in front of possible fans and consumers relentlessly to have any kind of impact. A common flaw in rapper think is that a magic music industry fairy will come and pluck them up out of their current situation. This is so far from truth it is laughable. Do your research. Any musician who is on now, was hustling fervently on the independent circuit to get themselves in position to move to the next level.
1 Lack of Direction
If you don't know where you're going, how will you ever get there? Write out your goals daily. This keeps them fresh in your mind and maintains your focus on the outcome. Each day take steps in that direction and before long you will be writing out new goals because you've already attained your original ones.
I truly hope you found this useful! Be honest with yourself and see how you measure up in each of these 5 areas. If you'd like to discuss improving on any area, please don't hesitate to contact me! I love to discuss this beautiful business of music any time.
Have a great day!
-Mike
We're on the cusp of a brand new year, and nothing would make me happier than to see the artists I work with succeed! I put together a quick list of what I feel to be the top 5 reasons rappers never make it out the gate.
In no particular order...
5 Ego
An over-the-top ego is never attractive. Whether it be in personal relationships, or in business. You must learn to keep the super-inflated ego on the tracks you're rapping on, and maintain a humble confidence in dealings with the public and possible business associates.
4 Not Staying True to Yourself
The purpose of making music should always be self-expression. Through expressing your thoughts, emotions and ideas, listeners will connect to your message. Compromising yourself by adopting gimmicks or jumping on the bandwagon of fads is a surefire way to fade into obscurity. That is, if you've risen above obscurity to begin with.
3 Lack of Business Skills
The music business is a BUSINESS. If you are seeking to enter & excel in it, you must learn basic business principles. Sales, marketing, promotion, etc. is just the tip of the iceberg. Those who excel with their music careers do so because they treat it as a career. A tenet of business is you only get out what you put in. A lot of artists are not willing to invest in themselves, yet expect others to do so. Do not fall into this trap.
2 Laziness & Wishful Thinking
Laziness is a killer. It will kill your bank account assuredly. The only way to rise above the sprawling mass of rappers out there is to be constantly working. Releasing music is only a facet. The music must then be put in front of possible fans and consumers relentlessly to have any kind of impact. A common flaw in rapper think is that a magic music industry fairy will come and pluck them up out of their current situation. This is so far from truth it is laughable. Do your research. Any musician who is on now, was hustling fervently on the independent circuit to get themselves in position to move to the next level.
1 Lack of Direction
If you don't know where you're going, how will you ever get there? Write out your goals daily. This keeps them fresh in your mind and maintains your focus on the outcome. Each day take steps in that direction and before long you will be writing out new goals because you've already attained your original ones.
I truly hope you found this useful! Be honest with yourself and see how you measure up in each of these 5 areas. If you'd like to discuss improving on any area, please don't hesitate to contact me! I love to discuss this beautiful business of music any time.
Have a great day!
-Mike
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