The One Secret to Success When You Have No Idea How To Get There

I remember when I was in college at Full Sail University, we had 2 weeks of Entertainment Business lectures, that were all led by professionals in the Music Industry. I looked forward to this class the most, because I thought I was going to find out ‘how’ to begin this strange career in music that seemed like it had chosen me since I was a child.
After 80 hours of lectures, I left felling very disappointed. The seminars were full of fascinating stories, and behind the scenes gossip, but no one told us “how”. In fact, when asked, they all mostly replied, “You just have to know someone important”, or “You just have to be in the right place at the right time.”
It wasn’t until a few years later, when I learned the secret to getting started, and making your mark in the world. It comes from finally realizing deep within, “What I have to inside of me to create and share makes me someone important. And my time is now.”
I lived in Nashville almost an entire year, working to pay the bills, but not writing a single song. Yet, I would quit every job because they wouldn’t let pursue songwriting. I admit, it wasn’t a great strategy at all. But, I was still trying to figure out ‘how’ to get in, rather than just doing what I already knew how to do. Write songs.
Finally, I wrote one new song, signed up to play at a writers night, and fate placed a publisher in that small audience of about 15 people, who signed me to my first publishing contract the next week. Five years and hundreds of songs later, I got my first big break of hearing one of my songs in a movie, then shortly after that, another one of my songs on the radio. There were a lot of components that led to that success, but the most important one was that first decision to just ‘try’.
Currently, I have a new vision for myself that I, once again, have no clue how I’m going to do it. But I’m reminded, the decision to just begin is usually the hardest step. Once we begin, the ‘how’ seems to just work itself out. I guess this is what all the professionals I listened to in college were saying. Maybe I was just too focused on who I wasn’t yet, and what I lacked, to really hear it.
