“I have a business and people depending on me but I want to finally commit to being a rockstar and start making music. How can I do this?”

If you’ve asked this question, or something similar, you’re missing the ultimate point of your aspirations.

The most popular is, “I want to go back to school.” But do you really? Is there a real need, or just a want to feel like you’re moving in the right direction? There are two simple questions you need to ask yourself before committing to a life-changing event, no matter how good your intentions are that will unearth the less obvious and more realistic path to success.

1.       What?

2.       Why?

Don’t stop reading because you’re disappointed with my simplicity. I’m offering to save you a lot of heartache and money here with a very effortless and unique self-interview process.

That guy in the beginning of this post wanting to be a rockstar is me. I’ve made my dreams a reality by answering these two questions in this way and guess what…

I’m not a rockstar, but I’m living my dream.

What?

First the easy part because you should already know this. Write down what you want to be, no matter how outlandish it may seem. Famous actor/actress? Highly sought after artist? World-renowned chef? Good. Just write it down. Now answer this…

Why?

Look past the surface detail here. Assume you’ve already made it and that’s what you’re doing today. Examine what part of that aligns with your goals in life and why. What you should realize is that just because you have the ability to do something, doesn’t make it worth doing.

I wanted to write music and express it in such a way that moved people to think creatively and feel the same emotion I had in the moment I wrote it. I wanted to be heard and change people’s minds about things. Music was my vehicle of choice because I was “pretty ok” at it and knew I could get better. I wanted to be expressive, impactful, and a voice to the voiceless. But guess what – if I hop out of that vehicle, and strip the music away, I can still do all of those things in a much more realistic fashion.

I found internet marketing. Technology has been my hobby and talent more than music since I was born. I can be heard, found, and speak to and for people on a limitless scale. I invoke emotion through copywriting and follow-up through calls-to-action. I found all the pieces of my rockstar puzzle also lay securely in something I could control 100%. Honestly, I can enjoy doing it from wherever I want, whenever I want (kind of like rockstar status stuff without the record label restrictions). In fact, you’re reading this right now as a result of the way I answered those two questions some time ago.

So think about it.

Get your “What” and ask it “Why”. Then figure out how many options you have to meet those same objectives while keeping in mind, “Just because you have the ability to do it, doesn’t mean it’s worth doing.”

Respect your resources as valuable, and your time as priceless.

Bottom Line.

If you’re trying to take away from yourself to give back to yourself, you’ll likely end up in the negative. Make every move a positive one.

There’s a natural celebration that takes place when we witness our favorite sports team score a goal. We are unintentionally emotionally bound to our favorite team’s success. In contrast, we are equally as hinged on their opponent’s failure. We get pumped up before the game, scream for hours, and go off into the night all kinds of jacked up if our team wins. And what happens when they make their goals but still lose the game? We end feeling just as deflated as the team. Right there in that moment, we feel disappointment. But there will be another game, another surge of emotion when the goals are made, and another win will come. I believe there’s something deeper that draws us to sporting events than being a fan.

The goals are predefined. They never change. Sometimes they may alter the rules on how to score, but the goals remain. When our team wins, we feel that air of success that surrounds them. They practiced, they worked together, usually for countless hours, and they deserve to bask in their success. Ever feel like you had something to do with it?

Brace yourself….. You didn’t.

Don’t get me wrong. Sports teams need support. They feed off your energy. And we feed off their success.

Ever think about why they call them goals?

Someone throws you a ball and says, “Let’s play.” You say…. “What’s the goal?” In other words, “How do I succeed?”

I find it interesting we can be so passionate about a team of people reaching their goals, as if it’s a break from our daily routine. It’s actually very much the same except the goals are always the same, we know all the rules, and all it takes to succeed is screaming our guts out.

I challenge you to examine your professional life, contrast it with your personal life and ask yourself two questions:

“Is my professional life in opposition to my personal life?”
“Are they even playing the same game?”

Now think about what your goals are. How will you define success and know when you’ve won? The rules are not predefined, nor are any of the rules entirely apparent at first. Maybe you either have no one routing for you, or you don’t think anyone would understand your position. You instantly have more opposition to face than any sports team.

So what makes it worth the fight?

The success is all yours.

When you watch an actor receive an award, they give an acceptance speech and thank all the people who helped them along the way. They share that piece of success and exposure with the people who have helped them get there. Sometimes these are people who have been placed under them by contract, and others have been placed there strategically to help them achieve that award. That was their goal – ultimately their definition of success. But then they go on to the next.

Our biggest opposition toward personal and professional success is that we don’t take time to identify the commonalities shared between the two nor the opposition they face.

I would like to challenge you to do 4 things and commit to them:

1. Align your goals so your personal/professional teams can play the same game.
2. Define your opponents.
3. Draft fans and strategic players to your team.
4. Play ball.

Why is this important?

I don’t mean to beat the horse that’s been dead for 4 months, but with the American economy circling the bowl, the stress of potentially losing your job might be costing you more than grey hair. Recent observations indicate that the stress involved with losing your job is worse for those who still have them than those who have already lost them. Even if you’re not worried about cut-backs or lay-offs you should still consider the possibility of it happening to you.

Taking the time to align your goals with your efforts may even propel you to quit your job once you realize no matter how far you go in your current position, you may never actually succeed. If you do lose your job, you’ve already got your head in the game.

Play ball.

To your success.