Finding your objective:

Finding Your Objective:

Making a commitment to music is not an easy task. You, as an artist, are required to be:
1) An Entertainer
2) A Musician/Songwriter great at your craft
3) Booker extraordinaire
4) Manager (Any one who has ever been in a band knows what I mean by this)
5) Salesman extraordinaire
6) Writer (If you want to get reviewed, you need to know how to write some great e-mails)
7) Partier (Yes. Connecting with the Industry is extremely important. Most of the time this happens in social situations like parties, bars and informal gatherings. On occassion the Music Conference (ASCAP, BMI) do present an opportunity, but really those instructors talk to so many people at those gatherings, they won’t remember who you are.

So what do you do? How do you create the awesome opportunities to get your foot in the door? This comes back to Time Management and a word we all know too well: Goals.

I hate that word. I have never followed my Goals, I just picture a big soccer ball and I”m kicking it into a net.

So what? I got a goal. Big deal. It doesn’t mean I’m going to win.

And we all want to win, right? We’re not here to play half the game and go home. So the word I like to use instead is called: Objective. What is my objective?

Every day when I wake up, I ask myself, what can I do today to further my career?

Make this fun for yourself. For instance, I had 1,000 CD”s that were just sitting in my closet for over a year’n half. A comedian friend of mine came over one day and was like, “Man, you’re always complaining about your job, why don’t you just go out and sell those CD’s!”

I just looked at him.
“Are you kidding me? Who do I sell them to?”

He told me a story.
“Deron, I’m a comedian. I do it because it’s the only thing I know how to do. I was just like you man, I had a job and I just looked over the cliff one day and I realized, this is all I want to do. Just this. I need to make it happen. And now I”m doing shows at The Improv. Stop asking questions man, just do it!”

At first this was hard. Really hard. I didn’t know where to begin or how to start? But you know what, he was right.  I love music and I just decided to go out on the street and figure out how to sell the product I had. The first day I sold one CD in 5 hours. I was amazed. I couldn’t believe it. It was possible!

So I started a routine – I started creating my objective and with a few Time Management ideas, I went out there and executed them. Within a month’s time, I was averaging 1 CD/hour ($10/Hr) and the funny thing was, what started out as a “test” turned into an actual job. I realized, I could connect/network/sell my music and not have to work a day-job. I was doing in essence exactly what my friend had inspired me to do, “Just do your thing.”

The most important part of creating an objective is knowing where you want to spend your time and executing properly. Keep it simple. One of my favorite quotes is, “Keep it simple, stupid.” KISS.  So many times we end up over-thinking things and because of this we never try them. In other words, we never failed because we never gave it a shot in the first place.

Your mind is brilliant at convincing you: Not to do things that are risky. “Risk” can lead to unsafe activities and the potential of harm. Your brain’s job is to reason and find practical solutions that will protect you.

The only problem is, following your dreams is not viewed as practical. Your brain hasn’t been programmed to deal with “risk” and “stepping out of your comfort zone” behavior. It wants to keep you right where you are, so you can be safe. But your heart knows differently. It’s not practical and understands “risk” and getting away from your “Comfort Zone” will open you to a world you never knew existed. When you start over-thinking things, go with your gut.

So to find your objective, think about what it is you really want to do right now.
Do you want to record an album?
Do you want to book shows?
Do you want to find a Manager?
Do you want to license your music for TV/Film?

Notice I did not say:
Do you want to be famous?
Do you want to play on a giant stage in front of a thousand fans?
Do you want to be 50 Cent?

These are intangible goals. By this I mean, they are not concrete objectives. They are fantasies. Put these away. You can use these to motivate you, but more often than not, thinking of these things will only depress you because you are not in front of a thousand fans with 50 Cent’s bling. You wll be, if you follow your objectives, but you won’t go anywhere if you only focus on the future. Think about right now. What can you do right now to further your music career? Then do it.

Reaching outside your comfort zone will create wild-mayhem for your brain. Remember, its goal is to control, think and give you specific guidelines on how to live your life. Your brain only knows what it knows. Obviously, what we know is a lot safer and easier to go by then the stuff we don’t know….so start learning things you don’t know.
Take Risks.

I dare you to go outside tomorrow and say hello to 5 people on the street. Just do it. See what happens.
You aren’t selling anything, just saying hello.
It’s random, weird and very strange and I guarantee you – you will learn something about this experience. You may even meet someone who will be that step to a bigger and better future.

Put yourself out there. Be creative, you’re a musician, use your mind to create new opportunities for yourself, than execute.
No one is in control of your future, but YOU. Everyone in the world will be against you, why? Not because they don’t want you to succeed, but because they are following their own objectives. It’s a two way street. Understand this perspective and you won’t be disappointed when people say no to you.  Move on. It’s a numbers game. You will meet the right contacts and find your network, but you need to keep your head up and continue to work at it daily.

Make an objective. Take on the objective. Execute.
Do not be afraid to Fail. You will, that’s the only way to succeed.
Learn from it, do it again. You will notice you will start succeeding more – your life will have more positive results – even people around you will want to hang out with you because you have this crazy, “I live life by the moment” vibe.

Life is a journey, not a destination. Take every day one step at at time. Make objectives, execute, start again.
Imagine how drastically your social network would improve if you met one new person every day for one month?
That’s 30 people you did not know before you started! That’s 30 people who “might” be able to connect you with 30 other friends of theirs. Think in numbers. Think in strategy. Think in objective and you will succeed.

Contributing article written by DWMusicMarketing

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