If you’ve been listening to my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast, or, heck, following its official Instagram account, or even reading the weekly e-newsletter, you know that tomorrow I head to Nashville for five days.
That means that today, of course, will be quite a busy day. However, that should not be my motivation to check lots of things off my To Do list.
If we revisit that first paragraph, though, those who’ve been following for quite some time know that a new episode of the podcast has been delivered on-time, every week for more than ten-and-a-half years now. Meaning, I’ve never missed once, as we approach the release of Episode 562 the day after tomorrow. And, as I’m often heard saying when I go out to speak, even though a new episode of NHTE “only” comes out once a week, I post on the Instagram account for it seven days a week.
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How, right? What keeps me motivated?
Let’s go to the bigger picture, though. What, period, keeps you motivated to do what you do, to chase what you’re chasing?
Yes, I know, you have to pay the bills. Of course. And no, I’m not talking about your “why” because that whole concept is SO overdone.
I am here to tell you that you CAN meet your goals. The good news is that you absolutely can chase your dreams. The only person stopping you is you.
Jessica Cox was born with no arms. Guess what? She did not let that stop her. She is a fourth-degree black belt in taekwondo. She has participated in numerous other sports – either competitively or recreationally – including cycling, scuba diving, surfing, golf, horseback riding, and Philippines martial arts arnis / escrima. In 2011 she received the Guinness World Record for being the first person certified to fly an airplane with only their feet.
Comedian, author, and radio/TV host Jimmy Failla recently said, “It doesn't matter what the odds are when you start in this country. If you just keep going, you can do whatever the hell it is you want to do. You want to start a business. You want to win some type of athletic contest. You want to make the (New York) Knicks. Whatever the hell you want to do. Okay, if you're willing to go out there and do the work and fight the ground war, you will get there over time. And the victory doesn't come on the day when they raise your hand in the center of the ring and hand you the title belt. The victory comes on those two thousand other days when you kept going, but there was no reason to.”
It makes you want to start playing the theme from “Rocky,” doesn’t it?
You are doing what you do because you love it, and you believe in yourself and what you’re doing.
I was recently interviewed, and I said I couldn’t imagine not podcasting and I know I would miss it and regret it if I stopped. And similarly, as a publicist, I love seeing people who are chasing their dream. It gives me great pleasure to work with clients who believe in what they’ve done and enlist my services so that more and more people know about the book they wrote, the music they’ve released, the events they’re a part of, and so on. It’s why I founded this agency 20 years ago in the first place. I saw someone singing who I felt was so talented that more people needed to witness this gift that she had.
Yes, we know there are going to be hard days, bad days. Unfortunately, you’re going to hear the word No far more than you’re going to hear the word Yes. By all means, doubt is going to creep in. These are all natural occurrences. It’s not only part of being in business, part of being an entrepreneur, a creator, but it’s also called human nature.
Here’s the good news, though. You’re going to keep reaching new highs. You’re going to make sure you take time to celebrate those accomplishments. You’ll be even more fired up. People will notice and enjoy what you’re doing. And you will continue to do what you love. Don’t let anyone or anything stand in your way because (I think I’ve used this quote before from a manager I had at a job when I was young), “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”
For twenty years I have been helping indie music artists, authors, actors, entrepreneurs, podcasters, filmmakers, small business owners, and more. What challenges are you having in your creator career that I can lend some insight to? Let’s get on a short call together so you can take advantage of all my experience, and I can help and keep you moving forward.