My Best Advice For 2016
In 1998, if you were a musician, there were two ways to sell your CD. 1) You could be signed to a major record label, which would distribute it to stores (difficult to obtain label representation). 2) Or you could have customers send a check/money order to your address, and in return, you would mail them the CD (slow process).
That year, Derek Sivers was an independent musician (i.e. no record label) who faced this problem of trying to get his band’s CD to its fans…
What did Derek do? He built a website for his band and developed a way to sell the CD on the site.
Then a few of his fellow musician friends asked him to sell their bands’ CDs on the website too. As a favor to his friends, he agreed to do it. Then more of his musician friends asked him. Then friends of friends. Then complete strangers.
This website became CD Baby. It soon became the largest seller of independent music online, with $100 million in sales for over 150,000 musicians. In 2008, Derek sold CD Baby for $22 million, giving the proceeds to a charitable trust for music education.
Derek is admirable guy (seriously, go watch one of his TED talks!), but the thing I think we can all learn from his story is the benefits of creating the world we want to live in.
Derek wanted a better way to get his music to his fans, so he built one. It turned out that he wasn’t the only one who wanted to use that solution, so he was able to turn that website into a money-making business.
This isn’t a prescription on the best way to make money; it’s my advice for how to have an amazing 2016 and an incredible life.
Create the world you want to live in…
or as Gandhi said, “be the change you wish to see in the world.”
That’s what I’ve (unknowingly) tried to do in 2015.
On a macro level, I co-directed Project Passion, an after-school program that I wish I would’ve had when I was in high school. Austin and I started the Awesome Initiative (this blog) to get outside our comfort zones, try new things, and discover what matters to us. Most recently, I helped found a new club at my business school that’s about developing a positive, collaborative environment within the school and supporting business undergrads who want to pursue non-traditional career paths.
Each of these bring to life the world I want to live in. Creative, Engaging. Impact-focused. Action-oriented. Uplifting. Entrepreneurial. Exploratory. Caring…and so much more.
The cool thing about creating the world you want to live in is that you don’t necessarily have to create full-fledged programs, blogs, or clubs. You can be the change you wish to see just by being intentional with your everyday actions and decisions.
At a micro-level, I’ve made a real effort to smile more, prioritize helping friends, and being as authentic as possible. Here’s a post from November I wrote about doing those things.
We can all do small intentional acts like this during our days. Sometimes all we have to do is ask for help and show up on time, and those small acts can have a tremendous impact on our worlds and the people in them.
My advice for 2016: don’t focus on vague resolutions; focus on creating the world you want to live in.
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