Are You Afraid To Put Yourself Or Your Music Out There?
As creatives, many of us struggle with putting our work, our music, our art out into the world. We're paralysed by self-doubt. We don't think it's good enough for people to hear. We're afraid of people reacting negatively and criticising us. We feel like we'd be humiliated if people didn't like it, so we don't even bother to share it. We say that it's not ready yet, and we engage in this perpetual cycle of perfectionism.
You've got musical gifts that can bring immense joy to people. I want to ask you: Are you giving your musical gifts fully?
Art isn't meant for just you, the creator. The whole purpose of art is to impact others and make the world more beautiful. Before art can have an impact, it must first have an audience. Art needs an audience; it's built for an audience. If you're just making art for yourself, you're withholding something from the rest of the world. It's part of our job to get our music to the people that need to hear it. If you're not doing that, you're not doing your full job as an artist. You're being held back.
Maybe deep down the thought of sharing your music terrifies you. Maybe you don't feel worthy of the attention. Maybe you doubt that your music is good enough. I'd like to do a quick thought experiment with you…
Can you imagine what the world would be like if Leonardo, Michelangelo, Van Gogh or Picasso had kept their art to themselves? Or if Shakespeare, Stephen King, Jane Austen or J.K. Rowling had never shown their writing to anyone? Or if Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, The Coen Brothers or Quentin Tarantino had kept their films to themselves? Or if Beethoven, Gershwin, Miles Davis or David Bowie had just played music in their bedrooms? Or if Aretha Franklin, Freddie Mercury or Beyonce had just sung in the shower?
The world would be an immeasurably different place if these artists hadn't fully given their gifts. So what does that have to do with you? How different is the world now because you're not fully sharing your music with it? It doesn't even have to be on the same level as a David Bowie or an Aretha Franklin. How many people have you deprived of joy because you haven't made it your mission to get your music to them?
Scientists have figured out that the odds of you being here and being you are 1 in 400 trillion; being conceived, surviving pregnancy, being born and being exactly who you are. You're not 1 in a million or even 1 in a billion; you're 1 in 400 trillion! You're not an accident, not just a random fertilisation of an egg by some sperm. You're a complete original – truly unique. That means that you're here for a reason. You have a purpose.
There's something unique that only you can bring to the world that the rest of us need you to bring. There's something you can do that brings joy and beauty to the world and makes other people feel good. Please don't deprive the world of that. I know you're here to do something special and huge and contribute to the world. And at some level, you believe that too, whether you admit to it or not. Your music, your art is the greatest gift you could ever give the world because it's completely unique. No one but you can conceive it and create it the way you can.
If you're worried about not everyone liking your music, it's OK. Not everyone has to like it. Not everyone likes Shakespeare, or Picasso, or Hitchcock, or Beyonce. The people who don't like your music don't matter. That in no way diminishes the value of your contribution. Your music will matter to the people who matter. Remember, you only need 1000 true fans to make a full-time living from your music.
The author Daniel Pink put it this way: If you have something that you think benefits the world, you have a moral obligation to bring it to more people. This is about going all in. If you think your music will make the world a better place and improve people's lives, you have a moral obligation to do everything you can to get it to the people that need to hear it. You owe it to those people. Who are you to deprive them of that?
It's not everybody else's responsibility to find you, to find your music. It's your responsibility to find them. And it's never been easier to find them. And if you don't know how to find them or you're not having any success finding them, that's why I'm here; to help you.
I hope you're inspired to go and make the music that lights you up and makes you feel totally alive and feeds your soul, but that you go above and beyond that and share your music with the people who will be touched and inspired and transformed by it. That's our sacred duty as artists.