Opinion: How To Live Your Dreams as Musician

This is a very complex and deep subject and because of this, I decided to do an article to drop knowledge for the non believers and the people who are skeptical about pursuing music. It doesn't even have to be music that you want to pursue, maybe it's acting or cooking. Regardless if you have a dream you must go for it. No matter what the circumstances are. Yes be smart and wise about your decisions but remember that you set your own reality, not the other way around.

1) Pray

I remember watching "The Boondocks" and Jazmine said to Huey whenever she was scared, happy, or nervous she would pray. Prayer helps you out a whole lot and it finds peace within yourself and others around you. If you feel insecure about something, pray about it. Always go with your gut and understand that God will never steer you wrong but will give you lessons throughout your experiences. 

A lot of stuff has happened to me personally this week (I can't go into detail because I am still employed) but let's say things can be better with the 9-5 lifestyle. I also learned that one of my longtime friends decided to take a sabbatical and fly all the way out to Phoenix to start a new life. Very random to me, but the thing is I get it. You have to be happy with yourself and your life and not let other people takeover what God has in store for you. When that happens, God will talk to you (not literally but through signs). Everything happens for a reason, you can't manipulate your fate but you can change your reality.

2) Change Your Mindset and Your Surroundings

This is a big one that most people struggle with. Kevin Hart said it best "Everyone wants to be famous, but nobody wants to put the work in". Things like pursuing music, acting, cooking, owning your own business etc takes time, patience and dedication. Your mindset needs to change. Instead of getting out of bed at 11 AM/Noon on the weekends, you need to strive to be out of bed by 7 AM and be casually dressed, showered, and eat your breakfast by 7:45AM so you can start your independent work at 8AM. The only reason why you should be in bed that late is if you are sick. You should only give yourself Christmas and Thanksgiving off. All the other 363 days of the year are dedicated to your next-step career. 

The other part is pretty major itself, your surroundings. If you surround yourself with negative, broke-minded people you will pick up off their attitudes and reflect it back into your work. In order to attract serious clients and serious work you need to be around serious people who are about their shit. If you see someone that has a management company representing them, that's a perfect opportunity for a client. If you see someone that works by themselves and is opened to what you have to offer them, that's good too. You don't want to be around people that want to take shortcuts in life, expect things to be handed to them, and overall think that you have to look fly in order to be rich. Steve Jobs wore a black turtleneck, blue jeans, and Nikes and he was one of the richest and most successful inventors/entrepreneurs of our time.

3) Learn You Can't Win Everyone Over

"You can hear thousands of opinions but only your opinion will decide your outcome" - Anonomyous

This I believe is the toughest one off the list. Most of us have morals. Me (for example), I don't like to disappoint people, especially people that I love and care about. I guaranteed close to 75% of the American Population are working a job to get by but have a lot of dreams in the back of their heads that they want to come true. You have to realize that unless you are MARRIED, have CHILDREN or DISABLED there is really no reason for you to not pursue your dreams. Jobs will come and go, but dreams are forever. Look at it like this: if you stay working at a job you hate just for the money, you will die miserable and empty.

My older brother did something very cool, he went to Japan for 4 years instead of going to college. He wanted to pursue graphic design/art there ever since he was a kid. Yes it was viewed as a disappointment by some of my family members, but he can say today that he tried doing what he loved. Even though it didn't work out in his favor, that is a memory of his he will cherish for the rest of his life.

You are going to potentially disappoint people or you even may convince people that this is right for you and what you were doing in the past taught you well, but it wasn't fulfilling as a human. You might lose the support of your parents, your girlfriend/boyfriend, your siblings, your friends but guess what WHO CARES? You need to understand that not everyone will say "that's a good idea" and that's okay. As long as you put 110% into what you love doing and be strategic about setting up a cashflow for it, you will be alright. As I said before, you must be patient and persistent with what you love. You will win people over (and win back some people that you disappointed or didn't believe in you).

4) Do The Best You Can

I learned starting this journey that you will make mistakes, you might fail but if you don't try you will never know how it feels to succeed. I recall at my 9-5 gig I had a customer tell me that while I am in my 20s I should not be afraid to do what I love. If I fail, at least I can say I tried when I am older and I can help other people who were in my position at my age. When you bless other people, you get blessed back. You can only do the best you can throughout it all.

Effort is all that is needed in this journey. If you are very serious about your shit and you are single with no kids with a business then don't be afraid to go down to part time to experience doing things that you love. You may make double or triple the paycheck you get part time (or full time at that matter) and you will love that you made this decision. Always follow your intuition and inspire people in the process too. 


5) Love What You Do

This is the most practical one for all us impractical folks. You must love what you do. If you don't love going to work at that job, maybe that job isn't for you. If you only are working a job position just for the cash then you are missing out on what else can happen. This is very important because it will bring out your inner confidence as a person and will have people respect you more in your life goals. Be secure with what you love to do and don't look for an approval from someone else. You are a grown man/woman you can make your own decisions. If you are stressing because of the cash, get that out of your head. You might have to live off unemployment checks for awhile, but that doesn't mean you are a failure. You must sacrifice things in order to get what you love in the end.

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