Week #32 (Aug 5-11, 2019)

The Little Things Pt.1 (The Good)

 

Week #32 (Aug 5-11, 2019) - The Little Things Pt.1 (The Good)

I was reflecting this week on the nature of success and failure as they relate to milestones. Often when we’re pursing a long term goal, whether consciously or subconsciously, we settle into a frame of thinking that anticipates that one BIG moment. You know the moment that definitively changes your prospects. That one pivotal point in time when something clicks and catapults you from “aspiring” to “established”. For an artist like myself, that can be that one song - think Old Town Road -, whereas for another business, it might be getting that one investor. If you’re into fashion & design, it might be getting into that one store or that one magazine. Or if you’re a speaker/author it could be getting that one review or that one conference. The point is, no matter your industry, you can probably think of one event that should you be fortunate enough to acquire, could change your life!But the truth is rarely does success amount to one moment. Stories like Old Town Road's meteoric rise are quite literally 1/1,000,000,000. To be honest, even these seemingly meteoric rises are often the product of previous efforts that then put them in prime position to experience the exponential growth. Yet still, the vast majority of success comes off the back of a million little things you do along the way. Most will not experience a seminal moment, rather, seemingly insignificant efforts made over a long period of time, add up and amount to a slow build. Each stride incrementally moving the needle forward, until you stop to look back and realize that you’ve actually come a long way.When I won the CBC Searchlight competition earlier this year, I legitimately wondered why I won. Don’t get me wrong, I know I make good music, but in my estimation, I wasn’t the best vocal singer, nor the most handsome, nor the youngest…well maybe the most handsome 😜. At any rate, after some investigation,  I learnt why the judges selected me. I discovered that looking at the totality of my career thus far, the judges almost unanimously viewed me as the most qualified to win. What exactly did they see? They saw nearly 10 years of music catalogue. They saw a documented record of touring locally and internationally.  They saw a mildly impressive music listenership. They say a small but engaged social following. They saw someone who had clearly made many sacrifices over a sustained period of time in the resolute pursuit of a dream. They saw someone who had come to a good understanding of who he was and what he brought to the table. Looking at my last 10 years of work, they ultimately saw someone who matched his talent with commitment, discipline and focus. Here’s the interesting thing; I didn’t think much about all the things I had done in the last decade. To be honest, I was tired. I viewed 10 years of work as amounting to only minor gains. I lost money on many of those tours and of the few that were profitable, they were only minimally so. I had barely made money on my online music catalogue. And coming to a healthy sense of self-awareness was really a recent development that emerged within the last year or so. But the recent self realization couldn’t have happened without the previous 9 years of experimentation, trial and error and basically just living life.So while I didn’t highly value the breath of experience I had already amassed because in my mind, they weren’t “big” wins, they were all adding up to create a robust big picture, all of which was moving my career forward, even if I didn’t realize it at the time. So when the right opportunity came around (i.e. CBC Searchlight) the million little things collectively carried much weight. One feather is a breeze to carry - the breeze can literally carry it. Somehow, I doubt a million of the same feather would be as easy. You get the picture.Of course I still haven’t hit the pinnacles I plan to reach, but I no longer see anything as “little”. I see every win or lesson as important. And here’s a funny thing; you do enough little things, eventually they add up to form slightly bigger things. Do more of those, and they combine to form even bigger things, which is where I currently find myself. But more on that another day……

Until next week, #KnowItsRealP.S. What are some of your "little" things?

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