Longing for the day ...

Step 4: Work hardest on creating the best art you can

(Photo credit: A.Davey)

The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.

Successful people are very good time managers who maintain a healthy work/play balance. Of course, that's much easier when you regard your work as fun, but everyone has to slog through the same un-fun issues to build their creative career to the point that it becomes their life.

Your GMF follows the quality of your music and performances and it's too easy to get sidetracked into spending your time in the social media swamp trying to promote music that's already reached its maximum potential audience. Don't cut corners in the name of conformity or take the easy writing or producing option just to meet a deadline. Make something better.

Revisit "What's remarkable ..." above. That's what you need to work hardest on. To manage that and everything else, you need to plan your time carefully. Work on a 70/30 rule:

70% of your work time should be spent on your music. 

If you get that right, only 30% of time needs to be spent on 
telling people about it.

So, if you practice your art for an hour each day, spend 20 minutes telling people where you're at and what you're doing that they can help with. Remember that when you write a blog post about your new song, that's also a piece of your art.

Don't tell people what you're going to do. 

Either tell them what you've done or ask for their help.

Telling people what you're gonna do has 2 side-effects: it lets you think you're making progress when you've really only told people about your plans; and it sets you up as a try-hard, gunna-be, wanna-be. Successful people just DO STUFF. They don't tell anyone else what they're going to do unless they want those people involved.

Step 4 Exercises

1. They say it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. If you spend one hour a day mastering your playing/singing/writing, that's more than 27 years.
2. (Come to the workshop for more)

Exercise to take home

1. (Come to the workshop for more)