Guest Blog: What I’ve Learnt From Starting A Podcast - Part 5
CONTINUED FROM PART 4…..
YOU DON’T HAVE TO SACRIFICE, BUT MAYBE YOU DO
Everyone’s journey in life is different.
We don’t all begin at the same starting line & we don’t all learn or progress at the same pace.
But one thing is always true. Working hard and being relentless in your pursuits will always yield better results.
Sometimes you can’t control things that happen, especially in the music industry. Some people get lucky, some have money to begin with & some are just more naturally talented than others.
But no matter where you start at or how quickly you progress, working hard is always the key.
We all know the talented person who doesn’t work hard who ends up being beaten by someone less talented who worked harder. But if you’re already talented and you work hard then you can become unstoppable.
In almost every scenario this is the key ingredient. Don’t go off and run yourself into the ground by working so hard you burn out, but that is the fine line you should aim to walk.
You may have to sacrifice things like social events, partying, that fancy cup of coffee, new clothes, the list is endless. But these are things you will have to sacrifice if you truly want to make your project great.
On the other hand maybe you don’t, maybe you have it figured out from the beginning. If so congrats, you’re one of the few who cracked the code straight away.
The important thing to understand when sacrificing, is that you are doing it for the greater good of the project.
So if you’re committed enough, then making sacrifices for your project is easy.
DON’T STOP LEARNING & DO IT YOURSELF BEFORE GETTING OTHERS INVOLVED
This one doesn’t just apply to creative ideas. For me it applies to life.
Learning something new helps keep your brain firing and learning new things will always help you in the long run.
In the short term learning things that will help you achieve your goals is a no brainer. There are limitless things you can learn to improve whatever you are doing and I spend as much time as I can doing just that.
At work I listen to audio books when I can, I’m always learning new music production techniques, I read blogs and articles to try and improve in all aspects of A Beer With...
So when you’re looking to improve whatever you’re doing, I’d recommend learning the basics of it yourself and having a go.
You don’t have to become an expert but you should have a basic understanding of the process and be able to pull it off yourself if you have to.
If you truly want to stay consistent then being able to do it yourself as a back up is almost a must, at least in the beginning. This way if someone that’s been helping you becomes unavailable, you can still do it all yourself.
It also helps to understand how long a task will take and how much knowledge or expertise is required.
Also if you do eventually outsource this task then you will be easier to communicate what you want from that person.
LOVE THE PROCESS NOT THE NOISE
Lots of people talk about this point. Some word it more as love the journey, not the destination, but loving the process goes one step deeper.
Loving the process is about loving the actual work. I often liken this to music production because when you’re working on music you’re generally by yourself, there’s no feedback from people and you have to motivate yourself without external things to motivate you.
There’s basically no “noise” when working on music alone. This means you not only have no one telling you it’s good, but also no one telling you it’s bad either.
This is what you should try and enjoy. The pure act of doing.
Whatever it is you’re doing, remember you should enjoy the actual act of doing. Not the results, praise or negative comments.
If you can detach yourself from these things you’ll stay focused on the goal and won’t be influenced by social media, listens, plays or stats.