You know more than you think.
Ending Season 1 on an inspiring note, Suz encourages listeners to ignite the change they want to see within the music industry and how to do it.
You’re listening to Episode 37 of the Music-Preneur Mindset Podcast.
Hey there! You’re listening to our Season 1 Finale Show, Episode 37 – Be the Change You Want to See. Today’s episode is sponsored by The Music-Preneur Mindset Summit, which is less than a month away and I’ll share more details about it at the end of this episode!
If you’re new to this podcast, welcome. I’m your host, Suz – a mindset coach helping music-preneurs build sustainable careers in music by improving how they spend their time and energy and discover their next steps.
For Season 1’s final episode I wanted to discuss something that is really at the core of everything I do with The Rock/Star Advocate – and that’s the courage to forge your own path.
Whenever someone asks me what it is I do and I tell them they say, “wow, I didn’t know that job existed,” and I respond, “It didn’t, I made it up.” I didn’t actually make it up, I didn’t invent being a mindset coach – they are pretty prevalent in other industries.
However, I did forge my own path and create my own way through this industry and I’m grateful every day that I had the right people around me a few years ago who gave me the strength and support I needed to feel brave enough to do things differently.
I definitely didn’t do this on my own and things could have turned out much differently if I wasn’t open to receiving help and guidance along the way. Ultimately your future is up to you, but you need to be willing to receive trusted feedback and support when you’re unsure of where to go next.
I learned early on in my career {as you may have heard in Episode 2} that the major labels weren’t for me. It was a very difficult truth to come to terms with, as that’s all I ever wanted to do growing up – be at a record label – after I was honest with myself about a career as a Queen, a cowgirl, and Janet Jackson’s backup singer.
Working at a label was the first real career I saw for myself and when I no longer wanted to pursue it I was terrified of being wrong again.
So I kept telling myself I still wanted that dream, but this time I wanted to own the label. Unsure of what other opportunities existed in this industry for someone who wasn’t the talent, I decided if working for others at a label wasn’t for me it must be because I had to be the boss.
I then spent years trying to build my own label with my college roommate. No coaches, no guidance, just trial and error, trying to take on big ideas on a shoe-string budget with a perfectionist aka debilitating attitude.
I’m proud of my past attempts – the good, bad and the ugly – because they taught me a lot – however, if I had a magic wand that could go back and fix the big problems, I would simply sit the younger version of me down and tell her this:
You’re trying to be a maverick inside a broken system but you haven’t done enough to understand why the system is broken so you have no idea how to begin fixing it. Get messy and start digging into what’s not working and why, rather than trying to create more of a wrong thing better than other people with more money.
Looking back I was trying to build a better version of a failed business model than corporations with large teams and bottomless pockets still couldn’t fix. Everything I did was still within the confines of everything I learned in school about how the industry is owned and operated, rather than try to build a new operating system.
I decided to ask for help and that help told me to slow down. Looking inward, and looking around at the people I wanted to serve, I realized what type of help was needed and what type of help I could provide towards those needs.
Something else that really helped me dream outside the confines of a system I had studied for so long was Danielle LaPorte’s Desire Map. It was a tool recommended to me by my coach and it allowed me to figure out how I wanted to feel as I went through my journey, not just how I hoped I’d feel or what I hoped I’d have when I reached the end, decades down the road. I highly recommend checking it out, there’s a link to it in the show notes.
Stop working solely for your goals, and start working for the actual journey. Keeping both in mind will ensure you make decisions that will serve you where you are now, not just the imagined you in the future.
I didn’t see the bigger picture until I was so fed up with my lack of progress that I hired outside support to un-muddy the waters and help me figure out my purpose inside an industry I had remained so passionate about improving.
The most important lesson I learned while having a business coach was getting rid of the word “should.”
I should do it this way because this is what worked for so and so. I should be charging this much because this is how much people charge. I should be offering this service because this is what people offer. I should be working 24/7 because that’s they only way they’ll know I’m serious.
I had to learn to ask myself – what did I want to charge? What did I want to offer? What type of people did I want to work with and what did they want me to offer?
Sometimes I got it right, other times I got it wrong – but I was rarely epically wrong.
I was only slightly wrong and was often able to make small adjustments and get it right on the next go-round.
I got good at asking questions. Asking myself if I was doing what made me happy.
Asking others what I could do to improve. I also became skilled at questioning the status quo. Why “should” I do it this way? Why not try it this other way?
Rules are great. Boundaries are even better. We need structure. But when a system is broken, you’ve got to be brave enough to say to yourself “what’s the purpose of these rules and are they still serving my purpose?”
If you don’t like something about your life, change it. If there’s something about your career that doesn’t feel right, change it. If there’s someone on your team that’s not fitting the way you want them to fit, change the team member.
Don’t be so quick to say, “I don’t know.” You most likely do know, you’re just afraid it’s not the correct answer. So figure it out.
At the end of the day, the only roadblock/hurdle/immovable force that is going to keep you from reaching your goals is you.
When you were learning how to walk you fell. A LOT. You probably cried many times, were scared, confused, and even frustrated. But you instinctively got back up. Somewhere along the way you learned how to fear falling, fear mistakes and missteps.
Do your best to undo that learned fear. Follow your instincts to get back up until you get it right. And your definition of right.
I am leaving you with this message of “be the change you want to see” because I decided for myself to be that change I wanted to see and it’s been an amazing ride so far. It hasn’t been easy and it hasn’t always been fun, but it’s been worth it.
I took time to figure out what was missing for me, what felt broken in this industry and for me it was a lack of awareness around the importance of self-care. I knew I needed more of it and so I became passionate about helping others get more of it, too.
I didn’t do it alone and I didn’t always see my next steps. I had to get comfortable with mess, with uncertainty, with blind trust in myself, and with trusting others to help me when I was smart enough to ask for their help.
The best change I made within myself was to get used to being wrong, owning it, and not letting it stop me from trying to be right the next time. Creating The Rock/Star Life Planner was a process.
My partner, Alyssa B. Jackson and I have made 4 iterations of the Planner so far, and it’s still not perfect. But it’s getting closer! We created the first version knowing it wasn’t going to be perfect. We were unsure of certain layouts and dimensions but we went ahead with it, knowing customers would let us know what they thought and we’d
improve it once we had the data.
And we improved it, and then learned a few more things. And then improved it some more, and learned some more. If I was still focused on getting it right before we unveiled it, we’d still be working on it and we wouldn’t be enjoying it due to the torturous, never-ending stank of trying to be perfect.
The second best change I made within myself was to tune out other people’s unsolicited suggestions on what I should do.
Always remember – you are the only person living your life. You are the only person who can tell you what is ultimately right for you. Don’t let your lack of experience or recent failures deter you from listening to what it is you feel you want to do. You know more than you think you know, and most times it’s fear that talks you out of making decisions to take action.
If you want to increase your prices – do it. If you want to scrap your current songs and start over – do it. If you want to stop waking up at 5 am just to prove something to strangers online – hit the damn snooze button!
The most important thing you can do for your progress is to make a decision and take action. If you’re wrong, you’ll learn how to fix it. If you’re right, you’ll move forward until you’re wrong about something else, and then you’ll learn to fix that and so on.
Make a plan. Take action. Tweak the plan. Take more action. Tweak the plan some more. A plan isn’t supposed to be set in stone. It’s supposed to guide your next steps and stay flexible for whatever life may throw at you.
So plan in pencil, but PLAN! Think about what it is you want, what change you want to see – whether in yourself or in the world – and start going after it, even if you’re still learning the steps as you go.
As a thank you for listening, whether you’ve been with me all season or you’re just tuning in for the first time, I want to thank you for giving me your time and attention with a very special bonus download.
Each week, well most weeks, there’s been a actionable such as a checklist or worksheet for you to download and use to implement the things we’ve discussed that week.
This week, being the finale, I had to go big. I am giving you a free download of the 2018 Rock/Star Life Planner! It’s sold online for $15, but it’s yours free when you go to the show notes and click to download it.
2019 will be here before you know it, but there’s no need to wait until then to start making plans and taking action. Download your copy of this year’s planner today and start being the change you want to see.
I hope you enjoy it and if you do, all I ask is that you consider leaving a review online.
Simply go to amazon.com and tell us what you think of the Planner! The link to the page to leave a review is in the show notes.
For more on EVERYTHING that was discussed today and all season long, be sure to head on over to the show notes page www.therockstaradvocate.com/ep37. There you’ll also be able to download your FREE copy of the 2018 Rock/Star Life Planner and purchase tickets to the Summit.
The Music-Preneur Mindset Summit, if you haven’t already heard – is a 2.5 day event hosted by yours truly in Long Beach, NY, approximately 30 minutes outside Penn Station.
It’s only 24 days away as of the recording of this episode, so don’t miss out! It’s Sept 27-29 so buy your tickets and book your hotel room TODAY! If you can’t make it in person, we do have tickets that allow you to stream it live via a private FB Group for only $27!
If you’re ready to stop messing around and start seeing yourself as a successful entrepreneur in this business – someone who has a music career they can depend on and enjoy – join us at the Summit. For a full list of panels & workshops you can find the schedule in the show notes.
If you’re looking to figure out your next steps, find time to balance everything on your plate, or gain more accountability & guidance, let’s talk!
That email once more is suz@therockstaradvocate.com.
Until next time, Rockstar! Have a wonderful few weeks and I hope to see you back here in November for Season 2 so we can get grounded to get rising! Take care.
Key Highlights
- What I learned about working at the labels [01:52]
- How I created my own path [03:37]
- The first thing I learned that helped me do it [07:16]
- Always remember this [08:08]
Links/Rocksources
- Theme music brought to you by DC-based Indie/Pop band Sub-Radio
- More podcast episodes can be found here
- You can download a copy of the episode’s transcript here
- Download Danielle LaPorte’s Desire Map here
- Leave a review for The 2018 Rock/Star Life Planner here
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