The David Andrew Wiebe Show

Do you struggle with your finances as a creative? What about pricing your products? Do you have a system for managing your money? In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I share a chapter from my upcoming book titled “Finances.” I also share the Tony Robbins method I used to handle my money. […]

Has your reputation been tarnished? Have you burned bridges without thinking twice? Are you trying to build or rebuild your standing?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I discuss how you can create better relationships with others. These ideas will work whether you’re just starting to put yourself out there, or looking to restore broken relationships. Just remember – you must be patient with the rebuilding process. People won’t learn to trust you overnight.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Today’s topic, being liked

00:24 – How to build a better reputation

00:44 – Practicing conversational generosity

01:09 – Active listening

01:38 – Adding relevant value to people and personalizing communication

03:09 – Smiling at people and being confident

03:49 – Be dependable

04:28 – Being dependable makes you endorsable

04:49 – Avoid arguments

05:57 – Read How to Win Friends and Influence People

Transcription:

Hi there. Today I wanted to talk about being liked.

I’ve had some questions about reputation. Winning over people and then losing their trust. And I thought I would like to share some ideas on how you can build a better reputation for yourself, and possibly even restore and eliminate a bad reputation. As I’ve said before, this is difficult, but certainly not impossible. You can win people back and earn their trust once more.

Practicing Conversational Generosity

The first thing I wanted to talk about is straightforward. It’s something called conversational generosity. In other words, when you’re talking with others, letting them speak more, and asking more questions. When you ask people open-ended questions about themselves, more often than not they love to answer them and talk about themselves.

But you also need to practice active listening and make sure you’re listening to what they’re saying so you can ask relevant follow-up questions.

And as you practice conversational generosity, you might find people saying things like, “wow, this was a really great conversation” even though you did very little talking at all. Or, “thank you for listening.” That’s how you know you’re putting this principle into practice.

Adding Value to People

The second thing is adding value to people. So often, people will send me an email, reach out to me about possible guest post opportunities, business opportunities, partnerships, things of that nature. And not all of them are necessarily going to be beneficial. Some of them are a good fit, some them are not.

But when people are reaching out, some are very good at it, and have me in mind when they reach out. Many others, however, do not have me in mind. Sometimes their emails or messages aren’t even addressed to me. So, can I assume it’s not for me, or can I assume it’s a form letter? I think it’s a pretty safe bet.

Also, maybe the content of their message or email is all in favor of themselves. It’s beneficial to them and the goals they want to achieve, but not beneficial to me in any way.

So, if you’re reaching out to people and trying to communicate with them, you have to keep those two things in mind. First, you must address it personally to them, make it to relevant them, and then you also have to think about what’s in it for them. And only then will you be able to begin to add value to them. And as you add value to those people, you’ll see your relationships get better and thrive.

As you add value to people, you'll see your relationships grow and thrive.Share on X

Communication is the cornerstone to all relationships, and without good communication, that relationship will not grow and thrive.

Smile More Often

The next point is to smile more often, especially if you’re going to something like a networking event. Smiling at people, shaking their hands, and again, putting those other things into practice. Practicing conversational generosity, asking about them, where they’re from, what they do, and adding value to them if you can. Connect them to other people, or send them an article that’s relevant to their industry. Or, if you know about a cool resource online, maybe a YouTube video or a website that you’ve come across that they would find helpful. Send it over to them. Smiling is huge. It projects a lot of confidence, and it also puts other people at ease.

Be Dependable & Reliable

Number four is to become more dependable and reliable. So, I would encourage you to show up to meetings on time. If you have a commitment, or you’ve promised your friend that you’re going to meet them at the movie theatre at eight, show up on time. And, if possible, show up early. This always gives people a positive impression about you that says you’re dependable. Taking responsibility for your commitments in life is key.

Taking responsibility for your commitments is key.Share on X

I’ve found that becoming a dependable person does make me more endorsable. Showing up on time and saying “yes” is a passing grade in school and in most jobs. If you want to excel, you need to go beyond just showing up on time and saying “yes” but it’s an excellent starting point. People want to know that you can be counted on, so don’t be flaky.

Avoid Arguments

Number five, this is very difficult – avoid arguments. You may disagree with many people, and their facts may be totally off, but resist the temptation to correct them in the moment. And don’t participate in arguments. Arguments, unfortunately, aren’t a win-win, they’re a lose-lose. It’s not good for either party.

So, if you have opposing views to what’s being said, keep it to yourself, and maybe dig deeper into why that person believes what they believe. Just ask questions like, “That’s interesting. That’s a very unique perspective. I’d love to learn more about it. So, why do you feel that way?” A question like that will tell you more about who that person is, what they represent, and what they believe. And that’s more beneficial to you, because you begin to understand them.

But it doesn’t mean that you’re going to have to work with them or collaborate with them in the future. You still must choose the right people to be in your life because you want supportive people and helpful people in your life, and to associate with them. I would encourage you also to treat everybody well.

Treat everybody well.Share on X

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Finally, I would encourage you to read the book, How to Win Friends and Influence People (affiliate link). And it sounds a little bit salesy, a little bit scammy almost, but it’s a great book. My friends in The Middle Coast band swear by it. I’ve read it two or three times and I highly recommend it also. It will teach you about how to improve all of your interactions and relationships.

Thank you so much for watching. Please leave a comment below and let me know how this video helped you. See you again soon.

Upgrade to Members Only Audios for more exciting, exclusive training.

Has your reputation been tarnished? Have you burned bridges without thinking twice? Are you trying to build or rebuild your standing? In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I discuss how you can create better relationships with others. These ideas will work whether you’re just starting to put yourself out there, or looking […]

Have you ever felt frustrated in your creative efforts? What causes you to be exasperated? Has frustration ever stopped you from moving forward in your art?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I explore why we become frustrated, turning weaknesses into strengths, and how past pains can stop us from moving towards joy.

Download the PDF Transcription

Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – My upcoming book, Flashes of Elation

00:28 – My first book, The New Music Industry

00:38 – Flashes of Elation: Creativity from a variety of different angles

00:51 – Pre-orders

01:06 – This reading is from the upcoming book in its unfinished form

01:20 – Frustration

01:54 – Moving a website to a new domain name

02:52 – My first business, Academe Design

03:16 – Web design in the early 2000s

04:42 – We don’t become frustrated about things we don’t care about

05:33 – Turning weaknesses into strength

06:13 – The war of art

06:35 – Pain and joy

Transcription:

So, as you know by now, we’ve been looking at my upcoming book Flashes of Elation.

My first book was called The New Music Industry, and in it, I looked at the current shape of the industry and what it means to be a musician in this age.

In my upcoming book, Flashes of Elation, I’m going to be looking at creativity from a variety of different angles and covering different topics, such as inspiration, motivation, jobs, spirituality, and so on.

Pre-orders for the book close on June 30, 2017. If you don’t claim the pre-order, you will miss out on some great bonuses.

Today we’re going to get into a segment of the book called frustration. Just know in advance that this isn’t necessarily the finished product, but it will give you an idea of what this chapter will be like. So, let’s get into frustration.

Frustration

As I sit down to write this chapter, I am positively frustrated. And that’s probably the best time to write it, because I’m normally a very easygoing, carefree guy. I wouldn’t say that I never experience frustration anymore, but I don’t feel it as often as I used to.

Why do I feel frustrated right now? I feel like half of my day has been wasted, and that’s never a nice feeling. I like to make the most of the time that I have. I like to tick items off of my to-do list so I can move onto the next thing.  I like being able to complete more than I set out to in a day. I guess I might be a bit of an overachiever.

Today, I’ve been trying to move one of my websites over to a new domain name. This is a fairly routine procedure in my industry, and not something that should be taking hours to complete (except for the downloading and uploading of files). I’m not even trying to move the site from one host to another, which should make it all the more routine.

But there are a couple of problems – one is that this particular site is hosted with a different webhost than my other sites. Most backend dashboards are practically the same across the many hosts that exist, but this one, for whatever reason, confuses the hell out of me.

Another is that I’ve used the host’s live chat support four or five times in the last couple of days to try to get my issues worked out. As soon as I figure out one problem, another seems to crop up. Perhaps tired from having to talk to me (some crazy guy), a couple of my chat sessions were “unexpectedly” terminated before any resolution was reached.

Frustration is an outgrowth of things not going the way we thought or hoped they would.

Frustration is an outgrowth of things not going the way we thought or hoped they would.Share on X

***

I once had a business called Academe Design. I can’t think of a period in my life in which I was more frustrated than during the 9 years I was running it.

I would work on graphics and get frustrated. I would work on websites and get frustrated. And keep in mind that this is what we did professionally – it’s what people hired us to do. It’s something I knew a lot about, but I kept hitting snags in my attempt to complete projects and upgrade my skills.

To offer a bit of context, at the time, web design was a lot like the video (filming, editing, etc.) industry is today. New developments were happening on a daily basis, and if you didn’t keep up, you risked falling behind in the industry. As you can imagine, that’s not great for business. I remember a time when a visitor to our site noticed that our website was still built on HTML in a time when CSS was being used as the primary tool for design and layouts. He even sent us a CSS version of the site. Ouch. I had no idea how to do that.

Because of the frustration I’d experienced in that business, I was almost certain that I was never meant to get into design, and couldn’t understand why I had gotten into it in the first place.

Now, don’t get me wrong – I still don’t consider myself the consummate graphic or web designer today. But that’s where a good chunk of my time goes. I produce a lot of websites, and the graphics that I put on those sites are usually my own. I don’t often get frustrated working on those things anymore. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to do it if I got worked up every time I logged into WordPress.

Had I remained in frustration, I’m sure that I would have never gotten to this point. I would have given up, and I probably wouldn’t still be working on websites today. I still get paid to work on a lot of those projects, too.

But trust me, there were plenty of times when I wanted to throw my laptop against the wall. So just because you feel frustration doesn’t mean that you picked wrong. It might be the opposite.

***

In general, we don’t become frustrated about things we don’t care about.

In general, we don't become frustrated about things we don't care about.Share on X

Think carefully about the wounds from your past. Let’s say, for example, that someone said your nose was ugly. It never feels good to have something like that said about you, but unless you’re an aspiring nose model, it probably wouldn’t take that long for you to get over it. Meanwhile, if someone told you that your art was crap and that you’d never make it… That would hurt, wouldn’t it? That’s because you care about your art. This example may not resonate, so just think of something that seems utterly insignificant to you, and contrast it with something that you hold close to your heart.

There would never be any need to be offended if we didn’t care about anything. It’s because we care so deeply about some things that we are vulnerable to insult, criticism, and perceived mistreatment. It’s when people push our buttons that we get upset.

When people say that your greatest weaknesses can turn into your greatest strengths, I think this is exactly what they mean. It’s not that you’re weak now, and in some far off time you’ll be stronger. It’s that your weaknesses already are your strengths. It’s just that you’ve been hurt in that area of your life, and again, that’s because you care about it. If you didn’t, why would you be hurting?

Frustration can happen with or without people, and in my experience, can even occur while you’re working on something you know you’re passionate about. Maybe it’s just that you know you can do better. Maybe the project isn’t turning out how you expected it to. And maybe, just maybe, there’s something deeper at work – like spiritual opposition.

One of Steven Pressfield’s most known books is The War of Art. We don’t often equate art with waging war, but that’s really what it is, isn’t it? It’s waging war on our own limitations, follies, and frustrations. Pressfield names something very close to what I just described as spiritual opposition. He calls it resistance. But whatever you call it, it exists.

But let me bring this back to you. Are you willing to open your heart once more and take a chance? You’ve been hurt, and this can be difficult to do. But if you step out in faith, you may discover a source of joy you haven’t felt in a long time. No, you aren’t assured safety from the world. You might get hurt again. But your greatest source of pain is likely your greatest source of joy too, and to deprive yourself of that is to kill your creative spirit.

Upgrade to Members Only Audios for more exciting, exclusive training.

Have you ever felt frustrated in your creative efforts? What causes you to be exasperated? Has frustration ever stopped you from moving forward in your art? In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I explore why we become frustrated, turning weaknesses into strengths, and how past pains can stop us from moving towards […]

A denotation is the objective, largely agreed-upon meaning of a word that can be found in the dictionary, while a connotation is the subjective, personal meaning of a word. But paradoxically, neither are necessarily correct or incorrect.

Denotation: If you're a Scrabble or Boggle player, there's a good chance you've called someone out on making up a word. And in some cases, much to your surprise, you found out that the word existed in the dictionary. You had no prior knowledge of the word, but it was there all along, so you can't really say that it was false. Oh, and you were probably penalized in the game for accusing others of making things up.

Connotation: There's a good chance you've read a sentence in an article or a book, and even though you knew that some words were used incorrectly, the meaning still came across. Nothing was missing in your understanding or interpretation of the sentence. Was the sentence structure incorrect in some way? It probably was, but it didn't impede your ability to grasp it, so that makes it true. The author or editor may have made a mistake, but the message still took root in your mind.

In this episode of The Question podcast, you will hear highlights from David Andrew Wiebe’s presentation on “Words – Beacons of Creative Power or Mere Devices of Communication Part II”, as well as the music of Elliot Lorne Wyman.

Thank you for listening!

What questions will be taking with you?

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We look forward to interacting with you.

Oh, the dreaded day job. When will you ever break free from it so you can dedicate your time to your creative expression?

There are many ways to support your creative work. And sometimes, the work you do as an artist will become self-sustaining. But this is not a reality enjoyed by every creative. The goal, then, should be to become aware of the options available and move in the direction you feel led to.

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I read from my upcoming book, Flashes of Elation, and dig deeper into the world of jobs.

Download the PDF Transcription

Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – In recent episodes, we’ve been looking at my upcoming book

00:29 – What my first book, The New Music Industry was about

00:42 – What Flashes of Elation is about

01:01 – Today’s topic

01:15 – Special bonuses for pre-orders

01:32 – Jobs and creatives

01:56 – Jobs and money

02:05 – Different approaches to creative freedom

02:58 – My guitar instruction career

04:24 – Paring down my commitments

04:35 – Saying “no”

05:07 – Teaching

05:21 – Jobs and creative expression

06:43 – Freedom and personal discipline

06:59 – A reason to live

Transcription:

In recent episodes of the podcast, we’ve been looking at my upcoming book, Flashes of Elation.

Where my first book, The New Music Industry was about “the what” and “the how” of the music industry, how it’s set up, what it looks like, how to thrive and survive in today’s musical climate, Flashes of Elation is a book about “the why.” What is your purpose? Why do you want to be a creative or musician? What drives you? What motivates you? What inspires you to keep going when things are tough. And rest assured things will get tough at times.

So, in today’s episode I wanted to look at a section called Jobs. And this may not be the exact copy in the book once it’s launched, but it’s a work in progress, and it is coming along.

If you’d like to claim the special bonuses that come with pre-orders, you can only pre-order the book until June 30, 2017. So, I just wanted to encourage you to check it out before pre-orders close.

Let’s look at Jobs.

Jobs

Some creatives are not suited to jobs. This isn’t to suggest that jobs are inherently evil, or that they can’t provide you with an outlet for your creativity, but if you want to paint, you don’t need to find a job to get started. If you want to make music, you don’t need someone else’s permission. Creativity is something many people pursue outside of a job.

But the reason the job question comes up is because of money. We all know we need financial resources to make our art sustainable.

You need financial resources to make your art sustainable.Share on X

So what’s the answer? Do we work 9 – 5 and fund our artistic pursuits? Some do. Do we start a separate business and set aside our art until we’re free to do what we want? Some do that. Do we quit our jobs and trust that we’ll figure out the money thing later? Some do that too. And there are many other options, such as starting a freelancing career, taking chances on high-risk investments, selling your art, winning the lottery (unlikely) or cutting costs by becoming a hermit (hey, I’m not going to judge). Different approaches work for different people.

But there are pros and cons to each. There are some pretty major pitfalls to some of those options too. I should know. That’s why I can’t tell you what to do. But what I can do is open your eyes to the possibilities, and encourage you to find expression for your creativity – no matter how you earn a living.

***

I just got a call today from the guitar studio I’ve been working at since 2014. They were wondering whether or not I was going to be coming back to teach in the fall season (most studios either don’t offer lessons during the summer months, or only accommodate a few students). They already knew that I might not be coming back, but they called to confirm.

Overwhelmingly, my experience with them has been good. They’ve generally been able to book a full night’s worth of students for me, the pay is good, and they’ve even provided me with additional opportunities, such as subbing for other teachers when they’re unavailable, or running the soundboard for other musicians when they come to perform at the café.

For one thing, I know that the music lesson market is a bit precarious in the economy we’re in. I’ve taught guitar for over 10 years, so I’m aware that student numbers are always fluctuating. But during recessions, people tend to stop paying for “luxuries” like guitar lessons. And this will probably be the case, as long as music lessons exist. The energy I expend probably isn’t going to be worth the money I make anymore. There’s also a major time and opportunity cost.

For another, I’ve been incredibly busy this year. I’ve been sustaining a freelance writing career, a music instruction career, a theatre technician career, and even a music career. Sooner or later, I knew that this would become unsustainable. The first half of 2016 was nothing but managed chaos. I knew that I wanted to pare down my commitments when I had the opportunity to, and I was even planning on doing it exactly when I’m doing it (summer 2016). There could be a tip in that.

But when it comes time to say “no”, it’s still difficult, isn’t it? I’m not sure if this is universally true of creatives, but sometimes we just have trouble saying “no”, even when we should. We’re wired to pay attention to the needs of others.

But the time has come for me to make decisions for me, and not just for others. I want to continue to help others, and I have a heart to serve those in need of my help, but I can’t do that without first caring for my own needs. And part of caring for me is honoring my instincts as well as my desire for personal fulfillment.

Teaching has been a great experience. I’m almost certain that I will continue to teach throughout my life. But it seems unlikely that it will take the form of one-on-one lessons in cramped rooms again, at least in the foreseeable future.

***

Some jobs will allow you to express your creativity. And if you’ve found a good one, keep it. But you’ll still need to confront this issue of monotony and repetition. Does the role provide opportunities for advancement? Do you get the chance to use all of your talents? Will you be able to work on a variety of different projects that engage, stretch and challenge you in some way?

Overwhelmingly, the answer to these questions is “no”, because that’s not what a job is. A job is just that – a place you go to do the work you were told to do and get paid to do. The vast majority of job roles and duties can be mastered in six months or less. You won’t even require the assistance of your brain after a certain point. That’s a good thing if your job is providing funding for your art. That’s a horrible thing if you’re looking for creative fulfillment from your job.

And this is why creatives aren’t all suited to jobs. Now, to some extent, everything can become pretty monotonous after a while, whether it’s producing music or writing a book. Some people start businesses to achieve freedom only to create another job for themselves. Others start their freelancing careers and gain a lot of time back, but come to the realization that the thing they’re doing for others is the thing they’d much rather be doing for themselves (i.e. freelance writing… *cough*).

But if you have a passion for what you do, and you get to mix things up here and there, you have a far better chance of staying engaged. When you have that kind of freedom, you also have to deal with this issue of personal discipline. Can you see yourself maximizing your time, or do you think you would waste it all on Netflix and video games? That’s another important question about structure and how much of it you need.

I’ve given you a lot to think about. But let me end with this – freedom is a good goal to have, and right now I feel like I have more freedom than I’ve ever had. But retirement is a silly idea. When you have nothing to work on, you have no reason to live. And many people perish when they stop doing things. We all need a reason to live and to create. True freedom is unrestricted generosity.

True freedom is unrestricted generosity.Share on X

Do you like what you read? You can pre-order the new book now.

Upgrade to Members Only Audios for more exciting, exclusive training.

Oh, the dreaded day job. When will you ever break free from it so you can dedicate your time to your creative expression? There are many ways to support your creative work. And sometimes, the work you do as an artist will become self-sustaining. But this is not a reality enjoyed by every creative. The […]

Are you passionate about what you do? Does it help you push forward when things are difficult? Are you in an endless and hopeless pursuit of what your life purpose and passion is supposed to be? Do you believe everything is pre-determined?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I explore these questions – and many others – connected to passion.

Download the PDF Transcription

Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Content I’ve been creating for my upcoming book, Flashes of Elation

00:36 – The difference between The New Music Industry and Flashes of Elation

01:16 – In today’s episode, we’re going to be looking at a segment titled “passion”

01:39 – Pre-orders and bonuses

01:59 – Passion

02:14 – Finding your passion vs. choosing your passion

03:07 – Doubt and life purpose

03:33 – Choice and identity

04:54 – Searching in my teens and 20s

07:25 – Passion means suffering

08:15 – Passion is hard

Transcription:

Hey there. In recent episodes, we’ve been looking at some of the content I’ve been creating for my upcoming book, Flashes of Elation. It’s a collection of essays on creativity.

The New Music Industry, which is my first book, was about the “how.” What does the music industry look like, how is it structured, how do you thrive, create, and survive in today’s music industry climate? It got into all those subjects, but it didn’t really get into the “why.”

I think that Flashes of Elation is a book that covers the “why” in more detail. It talks about motivation and inspiration. It talks about productivity and creativity. It talks about building systems into your life –  even though it’s not sexy, it enables more productivity and ways for you to create more work that matters.

In today’s episode, we’re going to be looking at another segment from the book, and this one is called “passion.”

Basically, every chapter in the book is represented by a single word, best to my ability. That’s a formatting decision more than anything, but it helps me focus on the specific topic I’m writing about.

Pre-orders for this book end on June 30, 2017. You’ll want to check it out sooner rather than later if you want to claim the extra bonuses, and I promise you’ll still be able to buy it at a nominal fee.

Now I’m going to read a segment from the upcoming book called “passion.” This isn’t necessarily the finished version – it may change a little bit between now and when it is officially published.

Passion

I’m going to go out on a limb and say something that might be a bit controversial:

I think the word “passion” has robbed us of the decisiveness necessary to master a given discipline or craft.

We’ve been lied to. All along, we’ve been told that passion was something to be “found” or “discovered”, as if it were a long-lost lover you were destined to reunite with. It sounds romantic. But I don’t think that’s how it works.

Once upon a time, I did believe that you could have an epiphany, a moment of realization so significant that it would be etched in your mind and tattooed on your heart for the rest of your life. The sky would light up, the clouds would part, the angels would descend from heaven, and God himself would announce, in a booming voice, “You are meant to go out into the world and impact people with your guitar playing.” But even if that did happen, we would still doubt our chosen path, because that’s human nature.

Look, I tried to make it work. I searched. I waited. I asked. I begged. I prayed. I cursed. I visualized. I meditated. I gave up. I got up again. And none of those things seemed to get me any closer to my “life purpose” or, for that matter, my elusive “soul-mate”.

Friend, we choose who we become. We choose our “passions”. We choose our soul-mates.  And if you choose to wait, you’ll be waiting in vain, because very little will come of it, if anything at all.

We choose who we become.Share on X

You came to this world with certain tendencies, gifts, and abilities. To try to become someone you’re not is to do a disservice to yourself. To curse your identity is to doom your life to one of people-pleasing and veiled resentment. Let me ask you something: who are you trying to impress?

You could do something you weren’t meant to do, but that will never make you happy. We all sacrifice and take crap jobs at times, but that doesn’t mean you must park and set up home there. Ride the wave of change.

What I’m saying is this:

There are things you’re good at. There are things you enjoy. There are things that make you happy. These are the things you were meant to do. The specifics don’t matter that much, such as your exact target audience or charities you want to donate a percentage of profits to, because you’ll figure that out.

What matters is that you let go of the idea that you must “search” for your passion. All you need is willingness. It won’t take long to see what you’re good at, what you enjoy, and what makes you happy, although you may surprise yourself from time to time.

Relieved yet?

***

I spent a good part of my 20s (if not the entirety of my 20s) trying to find my passion.

Despite my love of artwork (particularly drawing and painting), guitar and music, web design and writing, I kept on searching for something that was supposed to fill the giant gaping hole in my life.

In early life, I was preoccupied with arts and crafts. I would watch Mr. Dressup and other kid’s shows on TV, and follow along with the drawing, painting or crafts segments. My family moved to Japan as I was turning six-years-old, and I became fascinated with manga and anime, and even started writing and drawing my own graphic novels.

But then I found out I was good at basketball. Hell, baseball and soccer were a lot of fun too. Maybe I was meant to be an athlete?

If repeated injuries didn’t stop me, the grade 11 basketball tryouts sure did. I’d only taken a year off from basketball, but I quickly found out that the other hopefuls were miles ahead of where I was. Had I shown up to all the tryouts and worked hard, I probably could have made the team, but I didn’t know that, so I gave up.

When I performed a rap in front of an audience for the first time, at age 15, I was certain that music was the thing I’d been looking for. In ensuing years, as band members continued to quit, and projects and concerts continued to be sabotaged by the people that were supposed to be helping me, I lost that belief.

At one point in my 20s, the intersection of music and video games intrigued me. I liked music. I liked video games. Why not merge the two passions, and become a video game composer? If my love of the two mediums wasn’t enough, I’d also interviewed Tommy Tallarico, North America’s most prolific video game composer, in 2007. When this realization hit me, I’d thought the stars had aligned and I was on to something.

I applied to a New Media program at SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology) as it encompassed a lot of my interests, including podcasting, websites, and of course, video games. And although my application was accepted, I was late in applying, and there weren’t any seats left. Well, that was short-lived.

My point is not that I was never meant to do any of these things, because, frankly, we all have experiences like the ones I just described.

If I had a long-term mindset and was determined enough to push through the adversities I’d encountered, I might be in a different place than I’m at today.

And that’s what I want to – nay – need to remind you of. Passion means “to suffer for.”

Passion means to suffer for.Share on X

“Just follow your passion”, they say, and I say following your passion is one of the most painful and difficult things you will ever do. It was never meant to be easy.

But if you give up, that’s it, end of story. Unfortunately, God’s not going to come out of the woodwork to tell you to keep pushing when you are mere inches away from success. You must make that decision yourself. You must push through the pain.

What makes passion possible is that it’s something you enjoy. Anybody that’s ever achieved anything significant has suffered for their craft. It’s just that they may not remember, because they were having so much fun doing the thing that made them happy.

You will experience difficulties in “pursuing your purpose”, and anyone that tells you otherwise might just be a snake oil salesperson.

Passion is hard. We often assume, mistakenly, that we picked wrong at the first sign of difficulty. But passion and suffering are mutually inclusive. You must remember that.

Passion and suffering are mutually inclusive.Share on X

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