Tag Archive for: Self Help

In my humble opinion, ALL artists do this in the beginning.Secret Identity Stay Stuck MEME

 

But, most of you never get over it and your artist spirit dies on the vine.

 

OR you don’t master the productive pieces of what I’m about to describe and you stay stuck.

 

 

We all create a secret identity for ourselves.

 

Actually, we all create many secret identities for ourselves.

 

Secret Identity Secret CIA Identities

 

Often, a secret identity conceals things about ourselves so we feel or, in fact, actually fit better into society but sometimes this behavior hinders us and therefore we suffer.

 

 

 

The world also suffers because it never sees or experiences the fully realized version of our artist soul.

 

Think about Superman for a second.

 

Quick question: With Superman, which identity is the secret identity?

 

Secret Identity Secret PaperMost of you would say Superman because that identity was kept secret, duh.

 

But, you would be wrong.

 

I’m about to geek out a little bit, but this is important.

 

Superman’s birth name is Kal-El and he was born on planet Krypton.

 

Kal-El, AKA Superman IS the original being, the genuine soul. the plane-saving, train-stopping, building-jumping real deal.

 

Secret Identity Clark Kent

 

 

 

Clark Kent is the secret identity.

 

 

 

 

 

Get it?

 

Even though Superman was kept secret, and Clark Kent was made public, the alter ego of Clark Kent was created because Superman felt he needed to fit in more to society.

 

Another way to put it is that Superman felt the need to hide.Secret Identity HIde MEME

 

How are you doing right now?

 

Am I ringing any bells?

 

 

 

You’re Superman (NOT gender specific in this case, ladies).

 

The artist IS who we truly are and the other stuff amounts to alter-egos created to fit in so we don’t piss off our parents, spouses, bosses, or society in general.

 

Secret Identity Snake Toxic MEME

Here’s the thing, all of these different personalities within us are powerful, some are necessary and productive, but some are toxic.

 

 

 

 

The toxic characters can come from a good place and be well founded, so they don’t seem toxic to us, but they get in our way.

 

Big time.

 

Here’s a great example of a toxic secret identity.

 

I was listening to a Tony Robbin’s podcast where Todd Herman was being interviewed. Todd works with premiere sports athletes to help them understand, identify, and control these secret identity behaviors.

 

Secret Identity Tony Robbins Podcast

Todd’s company helps athletes amplify their strengths.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tell me that doesn’t sound psychologically interesting.

 

He was telling the story about a premiere female tennis athlete who has never won a championship but was amazing enough to be ranked (which is a BIG deal), so she was GOOD.

 

To this tennis player, fairness was a value that she lived her life by and felt was very important to her.

 

Secret Identity Tennis Player

 

 

Picture this, she would hit the court and over the course of a couple games and/or sets, she would DOMINATE her opponent. But, somewhere during the game her inner feelings of fairness would begin to creep in and she would self-sabotage to allow her opponent a chance to come back.

 

 

 

 

She did this subconsciously because she felt that if the final score of the game was too lopsided it would humiliate her opponent.

 

Her personality would never allow her to humiliate anyone, but sports are about momentum.

 

Just ask any New York Giants fan, it’s not uncommon for a pro football team to “limp” into the playoffs (with a 9W-7L record) and “peak” at the right time to win every game including the Super Bowl

 

Secret Identity NYG Logo

 

Their record shows that NYG were not the best team during the season, but that doesn’t matter in the playoffs. They found their momentum at the right time and what happened previously didn’t matter.

 

 

 

 

This is what would regularly happen to the tennis player. Her concern for the feelings of her opponent would trigger the self-sabotage which would change the momentum but the pendulum swung too far causing her to lose momentum. Often, she would never recover.

 

Todd and the tennis player would talk about how fairness is an admirable trait in humanity, as long as the game was being played according to the rules (aka “fairly”) it had no place on any sports scenarios.

 

Your job is to win, period.

 

Fair and square? Yes, of course.

 

 

Secret Identity Good Sport

 

 

But forget about how it looks or makes the other person feel because that’s not your concern when you’re both professional athletes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her opponents will have to learn to step up next time (they’re pros after all) and, of course, she’s always a good sport, win or lose.

 

Winning to the point of dominating your opponent doesn’t make you a mean person.

 

We all have secret identities that are quite beneficial. If you have kids, you probably behave one way at work and then shift gears when you come home to play with the kids.

 

Secret Identity In Bed Boots

 

Maybe you have a certain approach with one set of friends that differs from another?

 

How about the difference in your personality at work vs. your secret identity in the bedroom?

 

 

 

 

What about a radio or podcast interview/performance?

 

Do you take on a different personality to a degree when you do a live show?

 

See what I mean?

 

Secret Identity Business Negotiations

 

What if you have to make a deal with your booking agents, or team members?

 

 

 

 

 

It’s important to understand what personalities are required for each task and make sure the right ones show up and the wrong ones don’t!

 

On my first tour, I was feeling so blessed to have that first contract (which is a GOOD thing) but they got over on me. I could’ve negotiated a better deal and it cost me dearly.

 

Secret Identity 1st Tour Humble

 

We had a killer band (product), a killer 2×3 foot full-color poster (marketing), and the agency was in LOVE with us (buy-in). If I knew what I was doing, I could’ve inked a 10% commission rate instead of 15%.

 

 

 

That may not sound like much.

 

But, showing up with a different personality for that one meeting would’ve meant the difference between the tour breaking even and Ryder Truck Company sending me an $8,000 bill after the dust settled.

 

See my point?

 

Secret Identity Negotiate MEMEYou can be blessed and grateful, but shrewd at the same time.

 

 

 

It’s OK to have humility and love but be intentional with your business dealings.

 

These behaviors are not a contradiction to your personality, it’s good business and good business is fair.

 

Secret Identity Puppies

 

 

Think about it, your most important role of a loving parent or best friend doesn’t always manifest itself in the form of endless puppy dogs and ice cream.

 

 

 

Sometimes you have to be the bad guy.

 

I negotiated a 10% commission with our booking agent down in Florida on the Kidd Gypsy version of our journey and we lived a far better life because of it.

 

 

Secret Identity TV Heads

 

FYI, you’re probably thinking it’s just 5% of the gross! Big deal! To the agency, this was a 33% reduction in their possible revenue from us over the course of a year. But, it would’ve meant us paying 50% more than we needed too had we settled on the original 15% they asked for.

 

 

 

Get it?

 

I promise those numbers make sense when you think about them in terms of relativity.

 

My concern is that y’all created your own versions of Clark Kent and you’re buying into the role a little too much.

 

 

Secret Identity Don't Buy Into The Role of Clark Kent MEMEIt’s a false reality.

 

YOU’RE SUPERMAN. Own it.

 

 

 

Stop trying to be somebody that you’re not (Clark Kent) and start embracing the Superman in you.

 

You’re an artist. You can be an artist if you really want to, but you must be intentional about it or it isn’t going to pan out for you.

 

Secret Identity LIve Show your terms

Live your life on YOUR terms, not anyone else’s.

 

 

 

 

If you’re going live out the life you really want, which is making a living as an artist, then you’re going to have to understand and identify all your secret identities and master them.

 

Some athletes actually create back stories for their secret identities on the field of play.

 

Many pro athletes create names for these secret identities, THAT’S how seriously they take this concept!

 

I want you to win.

 

Secret Identity Secrets Girls BE Superman

I don’t want you to get too caught up in a toxic secret identity that has you getting in your own way.

 

 

 

Don’t accept any identities that tell you it’s ok to wait. Your time is now. Be patient but never stagnant.

 

A really good portion of my job description at Daredevil Production is teaching artists how to get out of their own way.

 

Secret Identity Superman and Supergirl

 

 

 

This is a common way we all self-sabotage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope this helps you in some way.

 

If you liked the content in this article, please SHARE and COMMENT below.

 

 

Stay

 

In

 

Tune

 

 

Awareness More Success MEME

Awareness is the key element to deserving success.

I subscribe to Tai Lopez’s 67 steps to success. It’s paid coaching and it’s awesome. While I 100% support paid coaching (a resource that most of you choose not participate in which demonstrates a lack of humility, I mean you must already know it all right? But I digress) I’m not plugging Tai’s. I’m all about giving credit where credit is due, and the content of this article was derived from Tai’s 1st step of the 67 steps.

 

Do you think you deserve success?Awareness Obesity Scale

Do you really think you deserve success?

 

Many artists (and normal people) say they deserve success but they’re not really deserving because they don’t do the necessary work that is required.

If you want to lose 100 pounds, you need to deserve to lose 100 pounds.

To deserve to lose 100 pounds you have to be aware of what is required to execute that plan. You must be conscious of how your body works, how many grams of protein, sugar, carbohydrates, etc. should you intake every day.

You must have awareness to avoid processed foods.

Awareness Food Ingredients

 

You have to be cognizant of how your body works with regards to caloric consumption during exercise and sedentary times, then apply that knowledge to your personal situation.

 

 

Are you active at work?

Sitting at a desk?

 

Here’s an awareness example that everyone can relate to.

Remember the day you got your last automobile? It doesn’t matter if it was new or used, awesome or junky.Awareness Car shipment

The day you got it was the day you noticed EVERYONE had that same car. It’s like they appeared all over the road out of nowhere, right?

You became aware of the car type once you owned it and now, even though they were always on the road, you notice them everywhere because your awareness has increased.

Cool huh?

 

 

Becoming aware of what has to be done means you now have a solid blue print to execute the plan.

Awareness Blueprint

 

You only deserve the end result once the plan is executed.

 

Most people choose to be blissfully unaware. It’s easier.

 

 

 

Maybe you can’t be as physically fit as Arnold Schwarzenegger who works out 6 hours per day or LeBron James who is 6’8” 280lbs. with 6% body fat but you can deserve more than you have right now.

You can improve.Awareness Step by Step

 

You can get on the journey of becoming the best version of you; be that physically, mentally, artistically, or all of the above.

 

Each day you have to go to bed a little wiser, step by step you get better and rarely does that happen in fast spurts.

 

Most people in life are victims of their own making. They are focused on the lottery approach to life because they are waiting, wishing upon a star in their lives and their music careers.

 

Awareness Fingers Crossed Image

 

There is no lottery.

 

Tomorrow will not be better just because you believe it will be. If you want tomorrow to be better you HAVE to work today, every day, and take it step by step

 

 

When you earn it you will be deserving of it.

 

There will not be one event that alters your momentum enough that will “change your mind” about committing to your music career. The one event that thrusts you forward will only be a “game changer” if it’s met with the proper, prior preparation.Awareness Lottery MEME

 

That preparation will be the result of work which makes you deserving of the outcome.

 

Without the appropriate groundwork, the opportunity will be blown and result in tormenting frustration for the artist.

 

Have you ever had that happen?

 

Who did you blame for the outcome?

Awareness Blame Piano MEME Image

 

If you understand this concept, your perspective will change and you will become more patient. You will stop blaming the world, blaming your parents, blaming the industry, etc. and get down to the work of deserving more.

 

 

 

To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want. The world is not yet a crazy enough place to reward a whole bunch of undeserving people.

 

 

If you are not where you want to be right now it’s because you don’t deserve it yet.

 

 

That’s a simple fact that is always a jagged little pill to swallow.Awareness You Don't Deserve it MEME

 

The world is, in the light of the Universe, a fair place to live. As imperfect as it is, it’s more just that it has ever been in the past. People get rewarded when they are deserving of what they want.

 

I have friends who are incredibly successful and friends that are unsuccessful and I can tell you that my friends who are successful deserve it and my friends who are unsuccessful don’t.

 

 

 

 

What about wealth and abundance?

 

Why does Bill Gates have 60 Billion dollars and the rest of the world doesn’t. You may say that nobody deserves that much, and you may be right,

Awareness Bill Gates “Bill Gates in Poland cropped” by [1] (cropped)Pomme de terre - www.prezydent.pl. Licensed under GFDL 1

“Bill Gates in Poland cropped” by [1] (cropped)Pomme de terre – www.prezydent.pl. Licensed under GFDL 1

 

but he changed all our lives forever. He added immense value to the world. You may believe he doesn’t deserve 60 billion but he certainly deserves the respect for his accomplishments and he definitely deserves more than me and you. Did you know from the time he was 19 years old to 30 years old Bill Gates NEVER took a day off?

 

 

Are you that committed to your own career?

 

 

 

 

If you aren’t why on earth would you expect anyone else to be more committed to your success than you?

 

Why then, would you resign to waiting around until someone sees your potential and acts on it to make a decision to really believe in yourself and commit to your own project?

Awareness Toe in the Water License Sallm Fadhley

Photo: Sallm Fadhley
License: http://bit.ly/1jxQJMa

 

Do you see how that is a victim type strategy?

 

I hear artists say this all the time, “I’m going to just stick my toe in the water and see if I get a good reaction, if everybody freaks out enough for me I’ll jump in.” Or I hear, “I wrote and spent money recording these 3 songs, I’m going to wait until I make my money back on these 3 songs to determine if songwriting is a good career choice for me.”

 

This strategy feels smart because you don’t expend too much energy and money on what you probably honestly believe is a “pipe dream”. It certainly feels safer because you don’t have to be that vulnerable, do you?

 

Awareness Vulnerable Comedy Tragedy

 

If you make sure you’re not in a position to be too emotionally vulnerable, then you won’t be too upset if it doesn’t work out.

 

 

 

You don’t believe in yourself because nobody else does so it’s easy to blame the world for your lack of progress. You can’t succeed because the world doesn’t see you as amazing and therefore it’s not your fault, right?

Awareness Blame Image

 

 

 

You’re a victim of your own unsuccessful strategy simply because you are unaware of the vicious cycle you are caught up in.

Awareness Vicious Cycle image

 

I want y’all to win.

 

Life is about the journey which is what is happening right now, not the end result.

 

I want you to focus on the intangible skills like awareness, wisdom, patience, focus, execution, and experimentation.

 

 

 

When you come to the awareness that there is no failure in experimentation, you enter into a life perception that will breed success.

 

There is no failure in experimentation. When an experiment doesn’t work you learn what doesn’t work, you move forward.Awareness Experimentation image

 

You’ve added tremendous value to the answers you seek.

 

You’ve learned something, you’ve progressed, therefore NO FAILURE.

 

You eliminate a speed bump or a pot hole in the system.

 

When you view every challenge as a black or white outcome, that is to say success or failure, you lack the awareness of complexities and therefore you are much harder on yourself during the losses OR you get too cocky on the wins which results in a head trip.

We’ve all met that artist.

Ugh.

 

I want you to read this excerpt from a letter written by a prisoner sentenced to life without parole in Sing Sing Maximum Security Correctional Awareness Will Durant QuoteFacility. This came from a book written by Will Durant entitled On the Meaning of Life, which was a compilation of responses to letters he sent out asking about the meaning of life.

 

Read this carefully and let it sink in.

 

 

I do not know to what great end Destiny leads us, nor do I care very much. Long before that end, I shall have played my part, spoken my lines, and passed on. How I play that part is all that concerns me.

In the knowledge that I am an inalienable part of this wonderful, upward movement called life, and that nothing, neither pestilence, nor physical affliction, nor depression, nor prison, can take away from me my part, lies my consolation, my inspiration, and my treasure.

                                                                                                          Owen C. Middleton (convict 79206)

 

Here are the takeaways from this letter.

 

The most important line to me is “HOW, I play that part is all that concerns me.”Awareness Colin Powell Quote

 

Don’t focus on bad business deals (everybody has them), rejections (we all get them), health issues (most people have some kind of health issue), difficulty keeping the band together, difficulty getting gigs, difficulty getting the money you need to record (when you deserve it, the band, gigs, and money will come), difficulty marketing your music (all the knowledge you need is out there and a ton of it is free If you are aware of what to look for), and traumas (most people have some kind of remarkable personal trauma).

 

Instead, focus on the reality that you are in a competition with yourself. YOU must get better and you are the only one that make that happen. Be aware that you are an inalienable part of the upward movement called life and you aspire to make a dent in the artistic part of this upward movement.

 

Donald Rumsfeld was quoted as saying, “There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”

 

Awareness No Excuses Meme

 

Awareness is what is required to search for the unknown unknowns.

Awareness is key to being a student of the game.

 

Ideas won’t make you a great artist.

 

Supreme talent won’t make you a great artist.

 

Work, awareness, and endless experimentation is what will make you compelling, iconic, and contagious.

 

When you become aware of that, you will find fulfillment in your artistic endeavors and not for nothing, your bank account will reflect it.

Stay Mistake Twitter

In

Tune

 

PS: If you haven’t already downloaded my free Music Marketing On Twitter book, please enjoy it on me. Go to GiftFromJohnny.com put  in your name and tell us where to send it. It’ll teach you how to get 1,000 new targeted followers every month for just 15 minutes per day.

 

 

If you like this post, please SHARE it and/or LEAVE A COMMENT thank you!

[ois skin=”Bottom Post”]