What no one wants to say, but you needs to hear, and you need to be reminded of periodically –
You’re not good enough. Your music sucks.
Maybe it’s true. Maybe it’s not. It doesn’t matter. The point is that that should be a trigger. You need to be pushed so hard that you either collapse and give up, or you push back so hard that you prove everyone wrong. See, when you think the world is against you, that’s all you have; to give up or to push through with every ounce of your being. And without pushing that hard, you’ll always fall short.
Giving 110% is a thing of the past. If you want to do that, you become a doctor or a lawyer, not a musician. As a doctor or lawyer, even getting through school, you have the world telling you that statistically you won’t make it through to the next level. My engineering class started with about 60 students. We ended with 23. 23 could give what it took.
But with music, so often a free ride is expected. Musicians are notorious for expecting success out of waking up at noon, wasting more time, and jamming for an hour or two a day. They’re the ones who have a handful of their friends and their parents telling them that their music is great and that they’ve got what it takes. Wake up.
Sure, there’s a lot of natural gifting that needs to be there and a lot of being at the right place at the right time. It is about who you know, but you also have to have the drive and perseverance to constantly demand more of yourself. You need 110% towards music or you need to be doing something else.
There will always be flukes; the stars that appear overnight. Blame it on the Disney Channel and Youtube, but don’t look at them for a success plan. If you do, you might as well be playing the lottery; you’re set up to fail. Make your keep by earning it.
You have to try your hardest and fail. You have to succeed and consider it failure because you didn’t do enough. You have to push yourself like you’re at the bottom even if you aren’t. Or give up.
