Is your brand expanding?
Is your mind expanding?
Are you following the map or drawing it?
What are you becoming?
Are you another day closer to or further from your goals?
Can you define your purpose?
Are you bored?
Are you curious?
Is there more market share available?
Are you making new friends?
Who’s following you?
Who are you following?
Is it worth it?
What’s next?
Who’s not being served? How are you going to fix that?
Why?
Why not?
What’s louder in your life – the noise or the music?
We are the only thing that keeps us from taking our music to the next level.
Not content with your music today?
Find a mirror and figure it out.
There is a voice that must be muted.
This voice says things like, “not now”, “not you”, “they won’t understand”, “not in this market”, “not a chance”, “what will people say?”….
It’s going to be scary on the road to greatness.
You’re going to have to retire your pride.
You’re going to have to go out on a limb.
You’re going to have to look foolish at times.
You’re going to have to give more than thought you would. More time, more effort, more imagination, more __________.
You’re going to have to be ok with people not understanding why you’re doing what you’re doing.
It’s your push against resistance – it’s your challenging of the status quo – it’s YOU being YOU that will cause you to shine.
And the more you shine the more we all will be able to see.
We are all benefactors when you live out the character you were created to be in your story.
Small spoken words change people lives.
Small action day after day creates a big life.
Small steps get you atop Everest.
Today become smaller. Be pivotal in what’s unseen behind the scenes.
It’s the small lyrics that make you call that artist your favorite.
It’s the small things your favorite hotel does that no other does that makes you come back.
It’s the small tidbit of wisdom someone told you that you have never forgotten.
It’s the small things that will make you say or have made you say “I do” to someone.
It’s the small things that differentiate us.
Noise that I speak of on this blog is basically the aftermath of unnoticed, mundane, getting by on getting by, average, just enough to break even, everyday, routine actions.
Notice that noise is not necessarily bad – and that is why we typically settle there. Noise is safe. Noise floats the lazy river. Noise is Groundhog Day kind of life.
Music, on the other hand, requires musicianship, multiple instruments, all instruments tuned, all instruments in the same key, all musicians and instruments in communication, creativity, rhythm, imagination, practice, sore fingers, sore throats, and time…lots of time.
If your taking account of your life on the Noise/Music scale, and noise is outweighing the music, question your bravery.
It’s bravery that takes the stage,
it’s bravery that grabs the mic,
it’s bravery that writes the poem,
its’ bravery that gives the poem,
it’s bravery that chooses to walk-on,
it’s bravery that creates the future,
it’s bravery that launches the website or business,
it’s bravery that starts a band,
it’s bravery that starts a book,
it’s bravery that loves the family,
it’s bravery that moves to Broadway without lead role,
it’s bravery that serves the church,
it’s bravery that changes the world,
and it’s bravery that lets the music play.
Ashton.Gustafson 