In my non musical life (the one that pays the bills I work globally teaching about behavioural patterns and strategic thinking. I’m a problem solver and my problem solving head is constantly amazed at how many artists spectacularly fail to spot really good opportunities.
Sometimes such individuals are natural procrastinators and simply can’t make a decision. I have lost track of the number of people who are going to write a book or record an album. They are always “going to” but mostly never manage to achieve their desired goal. Often they fail either to prioritise and/or connect to those people who will most assist in their pursuit.
There’s a story about two people walking along a road and spotting a hundred dollar bill.
One person says “I saw it first”
The other says “I picked it up first!”
I have many brilliant examples of these two different mindsets in action. In the last week I offered three artists the chance to be part of a new musical project. One simply didn’t reply even though they had read the communication, the other acknowledged the post, but never followed up and the last one followed up immediately and will now be part of the project which will also lead to some paid work.
In my business days my old boss used to talk about “The quick and the dead” In other words some people look for and seize opportunities as and when they come up and others remain dead to such opportunities. Of course each person needs to decide what works best for them, BUT some people don’t even get to an enquiry level to see what might be possible.
My own experience in life is that its smart to only align with the most talented people of like minds. I’m increasingly working this way and in the week ahead I have three very productive meetings planned with some very smart brains where there will be all manner of good opportunities through collaboration.
