Week #28 (July 8-14, 2019)

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Week #28 (July 8-14, 2019) - Define YOUR Success!

I was speaking to my manager this week, performing our weekly progress/performance review. At these meetings we take a look at all the projects we currently have in motion and assess things like; how far along we are in the process, what we need to achieve completion, and how completed projects are performing. During this meeting, I was giving my assessment of how a past project was performing. From my estimation, I didn’t see it as a great success, especially when compared to other projects. I focused solely on one metric of success - streaming numbers - and while they were good, they weren’t as good as other released works. While sharing my disappointment, he understood, sympathized, and then proceeded to expand my vision. He opened up my eyes to see that streaming numbers are not the only metric of success when assessing this specific project’s performance. In fact, we strategically used it to achieve certain things on the backend. Using the project, we’ve been able to acquire new team members, consolidate some things, and thus positioned ourselves to do better in the future given the new personnel and knowledge we have. Not to mention learning practical marketing lessons. This wasn’t merely him repackaging what was truly a poorly performing project simply to boost my self-esteem. They weren’t empty words. They were legitimate, quantifiable backend gains we had made that didn’t immediately look like what I thought “success”  looked like in that context. They were real wins. This was encouraging to hear because in my very narrow perspective I failed to see the big picture. It wasn’t that my definition of success was totally off (public consumption of my music is integral to the very nature of my job), it was just incomplete.Furthermore, I was also sharing how some recording plans I had for the week had fallen through. I had anticipated being in studio practically the whole week, but due to scheduling conflicts, I wasn’t able to get any recording sessions. Given my goal-oriented personality, and the fact that I like to stay productive (not just busy), it was difficult dealing with all the time that suddenly opened up in my schedule. Again my manager reminded me of a few things, one of which was the fact that my schedule was freer now because some non-music making tasks that were formerly entirely my responsibility have since been delegated to others. The team has grown enough (and continues to grow), that I don’t have to do every single thing myself in order to keep the vehicle moving. Even when I’m not working, others are working for/with me. That’s a win! So this unexpected opening in my schedule while disappointing, was in fact a testament to recent wins I’ve had. He then encouraged me to use the time for other important things like; big picture planning and spending more time with my family. After all, my schedule won’t always be this free. Once again, he had helped expand my vision. I tend to define productivity that yields success as constant activity. Here he reminded me that while this week’s schedule was unexpectedly light, I need not fret because in the grand scheme of things, the “freeness” in fact speaks to the success that previous productivity has produced. Of course, I’m not advocating wasting time. There is a fair measure of “hustle” involved in achieving success, but again, seeing the big picture can help prevent one from falling into to the trap of believing that endless activity equates to success. All of this reminded me of an important lesson; Define YOUR success. It’s so easy to define success not based on your immediate context or what works in your unique constellation of circumstances, but on what society tells us success is. Sadly most of the things society considers success are vain, empty and leave other important aspects of life to the way side. The truth is most times, society’s definition of success is either unhealthy holistically, unattainable or both. Hence it’s important to define what success is to you in your specific situation. One must look at the broad sweep of one’s life, then proceed accordingly. Of course, we must know how to take constructive criticism and then make necessary improvements. So this is not an excuse to aim low, but rather a reminder to look at the big picture in understanding that success comes in different forms, all of which should be factored into one’s definition and personal aspirations. SIDE BAR: I’m a big advocate of surrounding oneself with a small but trusted community, and all of this illustrates yet another reason why. Others can help you see things you may not naturally notice. Important to note, is this idea of defining your success isn’t relegated only to career success. It applies to other arenas like; parenting, fitness, mental health etc. Maybe you didn’t perfectly keep your kids’ schedule today, but you fed them well, and kept them safe. That’s a win! Maybe you didn’t workout as much as you wanted this week, but you turned down that extra donut. That’s a win! Maybe you had that donut, but didn’t have 2, that’s still a win! Maybe you’re struggling with depression and didn’t get up to calling that helpline today, but at least you got out of bed and showered. THAT’S A WIN!Today’s message is simple; expand your vision then define YOUR success!Until next week, #KnowItsRealP.S. How do you define success?

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