I know that I make pretty regular references to my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast in this blog. After all, there’s a lot of synergy between that show and what you read here each week, so those links that I provide are because they’re relevant. It also behooves me to add that both listening to that and reading here can provide valuable teaching moments for you, so each is a good resource for your career as a music maker, podcaster, filmmaker, author, or whatever facet of the arts and entertainment world you’re in.
What I rarely mention here, if ever, is something that I have occasionally mentioned in the weekly e-newsletter. And by occasionally I mean that I can count on one hand how many times I’ve included something about it in there. And that is my other weekly podcast, which put me in position to hear firsthand when a guest I just interviewed said, “My job as a storyteller is not to create things, my job is to listen; and not just listen with my ears, but listen with everything that God has given me.”
And that, my friends, is a powerful stop-you-in-your-tracks statement.
I recently wrote a guest blog elsewhere and included a reference to saying Yes to opportunities because you think you should. It got a lot of good feedback (comments posted by readers), wherein there was a consensus about listening to your gut instinct. And so, the same can be said when it comes to creating content.
Like the above quote, you need to dismiss the idea that, “I create stuff,” or “I need to create something today.” How many times have we heard guests on my “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast say that they got a song idea OUTSIDE OF a scheduled songwriting session? In other words, they availed themselves to God, the universe, whatever you want to call the source for their inspiration, and weren’t just pressing, sitting at a laptop or tablet or piece of paper, trying to force out some lyrics or a melody.
Some of what we make might seem corporate, sterile, industrial, unemotional, whatever word you want to pick. I’m thinking of a YouTube video here as a great example, but it could be other projects too. But if you just go through the motions with them, doesn’t it stand to reason that they’ll probably just come out ‘okay’? Even if they’re not intended to pull on the audience’s heartstrings, they serve a purpose and don’t you owe it to your portfolio, your next job offer, if nothing else, to put your best foot forward and do some soul searching to determine, “How CAN I best ensure that this delivers on its promise, its purpose”?
Not everyone is cut out to be a creative. Podcasting has a low barrier of entry, so lots and lots (and lots) of people try it. But they’re likely going to fail (quickly) if they’re only doing it BECAUSE so many others are. Again, going back to the guest quote above, if those folks would – in the words of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band Heart – listen to your heart, they might just find what they’re being called to truly be messengers of rather than what they shrug their shoulders and decide what they ‘guess’ they’ll do a show on.
In a time when ‘collab’ is such buzzword, doesn’t that imply that we should be listening more rather than be trying to speak loudest and make sure we get our name listed first and the credit we think we deserve? Being in service to the song, the film, the podcast, the audience, is all going to make us someone people want to be around and thus refer business to. In other words, we attract, rather than assert, who and what we want to be.
As January ends, a lot of people are probably looking at New Year’s resolutions that they’ve already seen go by the wayside. Here’s a second chance thanks to simply changing your approach and your mindset. Let’s see how you do with your new initiatives in February. (wink)
Do you have a “yeah, but”? Call me. Let’s talk about what’s holding you back so you can move forward. Read here about how you can actually have a real phone conversation with me. No gimmicks. Ring me and take advantage of my more than 19 years helping creatives from around the country – singers, songwriters, musicians, authors, podcasters, entrepreneurs, small business owners – people just like you.