In the words of Napoleon Hill, “Winners never quit and quitters never win”. This statement is empowering to those who understand it while applying it, because most people will quit when the going gets rough and thusly creates the largest factor preventing them from reaching success.
If you’re reading this article, you’ve probably thought, at one time or another, that something that you’ve always wanted to do was achievable. If money has ever separated you from your dreams, this article is for you. Because I am a musician, in this article I will be talking about my dreams to make money, and live, solely off of my music. It’s up to you to relate my thoughts to your own dreams, whether they be musical or not, it’s all up to you.
During his youth, Albert Einstein was considered slow when it came to things such as learning to speak. So much so that his parents even consulted a doctor to see what might be wrong with their child. He was even expelled from primary school and told he would not amount to much because of him being a slow learner and general rebelliousness. Stephen King’s novel, “Carrie”, was rejected 30 times before it was published. Little did any publisher know that his works had the potential to sell millions of copies. Walt Disney was fired from a local newspaper because they said he lacked imagination. He then went on to create one of the biggest entertainment business’ in the world because of just that which they said he lacked.. Elvis Presley was fired after his first performance and was told he's not going to go anywhere and that he should go back to driving trucks. Henry Ford went bankrupt before he hit success building the Ford Motor Company. It wasn’t until he was 40 that he hit success. Amelia Earhart had no supporters while flying and living her dream, but she didn't quit. No matter how many people doubted her, she pushed through and was the first female to complete a transatlantic flight.
With all these great, yet historical, examples listed above, it should be very apparent that any dream is achievable. It doesn’t matter if your parents think you’re incapable of doing it, if no one thinks it’s worth their time, if no one sees things like you do, if no one is willing to help you, and especially if no one believes in you. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about you, your ideas or your actions, if you believe in something, you can achieve it. As a side note, whether your dream is morally and humanly respectable, it is up to history and law enforcement to decide whether you ever achieve it… Remember, no one needs another Hitler.
Having the persistence, desire, faith, mindset and method of structure to achieve something is the core foundation to start and pursue it. Any path you choose in life, whether it’s going to college, going into the workforce, joining the military, or starting your own business, will always be hard in the beginning, but you must never stop learning wherever you go. Reading books, seeking mentors, and learning anything and everything that is relevant to your goals and dreams is what will keep you on that path. If at some point in life you choose to switch your path, it is, and always will be, possible to do just that. But, like the first time around, it will be very hard in the early stages to get yourself familiarized with the flow of business and work.
Specifically speaking, in my career path as a musician, one of the biggest strifes, even to this day, is learning what to do in order to have a constant flow of money both into and out of my band. Most musicians just think they can make a living sitting in their bedrooms or basements practicing their hearts out. But if there's one thing I've learned in that respect, it's that you can be the absolute worst player of your instrument, and still find a way to make money doing what you love. It takes way more than just being a great player to survive in this game. And that applies to nearly any career path. You can't go into a lifestyle with just one skill and hope to live the rest of your life doing just that one thing. You have to be flexible. You have to be pliable. You have to be able to learn everyone else's job, and then some. You can't trust anyone to do their job better than you could do their job, simply because they are not you. It sounds bad, but it's realistic. I say that because someday, when you have employees, or people that work for or with you, you will need to know who to delegate certain tasks to. And by knowing how to do everything related to, and needed by, your job from early on in your career, it just gets easier when the time comes to train others how to work the same job, in order to, “A”, not have to do as much menial work yourself, so “B”, you can focus your energies somewhere much more beneficial to the business as a whole. In a nutshell, when you know how to do everything, not necessarily “to a tee”, but enough to cover the business’ “assets”, you'll realize that your own “assets” are covered as well.
At this point I'm going to start plugging some useful tools that I myself, among thousands of others, have found to be very useful, and that I wish to spread to as many people as I can. “Think and Grow Rich” is a novel by Napoleon Hill. This book has helped change my entire mindset in regards to business, and therefore helped me get back on track running my business the way it should be. The “Tom Hess’s Music Career Mentoring Program ” is a great program, be it long and full of homework though, to help a musician get out on the table what they, above everyone else, wants to get out of their career.
No matter if or you’ve been stolen from, cheated on, lied too, discouraged by, or mislead by, you can, and will push through anything and everything, until you reach an utter VICTORY.
To your success my friends.
Written by: Dakota Malinowski
Edited by: Branden Johns
www.killingrapunzel.com
© 2016 Killing Rapunzel
Edited by: Branden Johns
www.killingrapunzel.com
© 2016 Killing Rapunzel
