Posts tagged 071422
Post hit

Okay, this is weird, but I think it's a useful ability of mine: I know what it's like to be successful without actually having to go to the trouble.

I mean really successful, like number one record, eight-figure income, bestselling novel successful.

I haven't been there, but I know. I can experience it without experiencing it. I know that when you reach that level, you aren't any different inside than you were before, and if how you felt inside was inadequate and unworthy, you will still feel that way.

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Celebrating passion, limiting obsession

I still remember something my friend Weston shared over a meal years ago.

I had asked Weston, a gifted musician and the singer/songwriter behind Ayo River, how he avoided getting creatively frustrated. His songs always seemed to flow from a deep place within him, free of self-consciousness and artifice. Prolific and generous with his work, he made it look easy. How did he do it?

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When it has to be epic

As a young, aspiring singer/songwriter, I dreamed of creating something incredible.

Inspired by The Beatles, Chuck Berry, Smokey Robinson, and Bob Dylan — in other words, world-class, genre-defining, generational talents — I thought about where my music would fit in the pantheon of the greats.

In my “planning,” I completely skipped over the part where I would write, perform, and promote my music, connecting with potential partners and fans one by one, building a career the way everyone has to build a career: day by day.

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A belief that leads to miserable artists and entrepreneurs

I came across a plaintive blog post by a struggling entrepreneur. “God,” she said to the Internet, “Why won’t you send your blessings to my business?”

Yesterday, I wrote about how we can succeed with something if we stick with it and refuse to entertain the possibility that we don’t have what it takes. But that’s about our own skill and persistence. We run into trouble when we think we can control what other people do if we just try hard enough or show up long enough…and if that is the case, controlling the actions of an almighty deity would seem to be to be off the menu as well.

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