I was talking to one of my fellow creative friends the other day and were talking about accomplishing our dreams. Both of us know other creative people who seem to be stuck in a rut while we seem to be moving forward. Most of the people we know who are stuck are those who tend to have no other form of income besides their creative or entrepreneurial endeavors.
In essence, striving for your dream seems magical, mysterious, and even intoxicating. It especially seems that way when you are an outsider looking in. I remember I used to sit in my grey cubicle at “Large Healthcare Company” and fantasize about how great it would be to pursue music full-time. I pictured the pursuit of musical dreams to be a place where singers, musicians, and writers held hands and made some of the funkiest and most enlightened music ever. The thought of money and resources never entered my mind until I decided to create a product myself.
As I was creating my first CD, I realized that I needed money in order to really produce the type of project I wanted to. It was my first dose of music business reality. I learned if you want something bad enough, you need to invest in yourself. At times, I have worked jobs that have been beneath me or really stressful just to make my music. In short, I had to do what I had to do. I am still in the same mindset.
Eventually things have started to turn around for me. I still do invest in myself a lot. However when I work with other people, they are also willing to make an investment in me. They know I am going to work hard to produce positive results.
Bottom line is if you want to make it, you need to first invest in yourself. No one is waiting with a bag of money to hand over to someone who doesn’t believe in themselves enough to make the first investement in their own dream. You need to know and prepare yourself for all of the costs involved in your dreams. Remember it is your dream, not Bill Gates’ or Oprah Winfrey’s.
