It Usually Takes Time To Find Your Voice
I love this following quote and I resonate with it SO much.
Man, sometimes it takes you a long time to sound like yourself.
Miles Davis
First, I want to welcome you to my site and blog. It has taken me a LONG time to reach this place where I feel like I have something of value to share. The funny thing is, although it indeed takes time to find your voice, I had it all along… I just didn’t believe it: I didn’t have confidence in myself, my experience, and abilities.
And guess what?
You have a voice worth sharing too: believe it or not.
One of my main goals for this post is to help build your self-confidence. If I create something of value to share and you take something from it – even if it’s one, small thing – we both win.
Taking one, small lesson then applying it to your life, and repeating this process over and over again, is a powerful recipe for success.
Let’s get motivated now
I love and am inspired by the following quote:
Don’t die with your music still inside you. Listen to your intuitive inner voice and find what passion stirs your soul. When you do this, you’re also tapping into another face of intention: love.
Dr. Wayne Dyer
What does this first sentence say to you? I think it’s the most powerful part. I only discovered the rest of it as I was putting together this post.
What this says to me is that life is short and that you have something very unique and 100% yours inside that is dying to get out! What a tragedy for you to come and go and for that burning passion inside you to die with you.
What’s Your Mission?
I believe wholeheartedly that we all have a unique mission in life.
I know. Corny, right? Cliche, right?
Well, somewhere deep inside me tells me that this is true. I can’t logically explain it… 😉
The difference is that I feel that our missions are all shapes and sizes and by many standards maybe not seen as so “special” when compared to the glitz and glamour that gets rammed into our minds every doggone day…
Imagine
If you can imagine life as the universe and each of us compared to a celestial body… Some of us will be enormous stars, others little blue stars, while others are planets and moons and meteors and… well, I think you get me…
My point is that we all serve a purpose and all have a role and all can be happy and fulfilled living out our potential. No one is better than the other – just different.
Your Story
Another idea that compliments this whole concept of each of us being unique and having our own purpose, I can’t remember where I heard. But will cite it as soon as I discover where I heard it. It also speaks to the idea of sharing your music (your inner passion) while you are able to.
Your story can be the key that frees someone from their prison…
Unknown
Your Duty
Here is the thing. As long as we are part of the human race, it is our responsibility to share our wisdom, lessons, and experiences however insignificant we may feel they are. To someone else, it could be the key ingredient to help them through a difficult challenge.
If we are to become the change we want to see in the world, we need the courage to focus less on ourselves and how we might look in the public eye and simply share. We need to share our victories, failures, and passions. We need to realize that we are all cut from the same cloth and have more similarities than we might presently think.
Before you know it, you’ll be old and gray and think to yourself, “what the heck did I do with my life?” Although this might sound cliche and you might even catch yourself thinking, “duh…” I will ask you, “what are you doing to put something out into the world?”
At the time of this initial post, I am almost turning 45!!!! Dear goodness… And it feels like yesterday I was a young, punk kid who knew enough about enough to not have to worry about all of this.
I Blinked My Eyes and Here I Am
And even though I have a long way to go before I feel remotely satisfied with my contribution to the world, I will, without an ounce of hesitation, say that it’s never too late (or too early) to impact the world around you (or make a ruckus, as Seth Godin would put it).
So How DO You Find Your Voice?
Let’s get into the practical application of the concept now.
First, you must decide to start.
Simple, right?
Well, it wasn’t for me!
hahaha…
Correction. I would start small, unfocused projects and would soon give up because I would lose myself and get lost in my own mind and mission (hint, there was no concrete mission – just a general idea).
So, to do this correctly, you first need to find the way to communicate that you are most comfortable with. Do you prefer writing, recording your voice, or video?
Choose one.
You then need to find one thing to talk about that moves you. At this point we are not worried about popularity or fitting in. The only thing we are worried about is producing what we love or are passionate about regularly.
There is an exception here. For example, this personal blog is focused on my passions and interests. So, unless you are creating a personal blog try to focus on one main topic. This is not a hard rule, but what is important here is to try to move in a direction that is focused enough that you will not lose focus or inspiration.
Doubts or excuses already invading your thoughts?
Have faith. Just like there are countless cover songs of the most popular hits, your unique voice on your chosen topic will resonate with an audience: your audience may be very small or larger than you imagine!
Next, you need to keep doing it.
Although this also seems basic, so many of us fall off the wagon and don’t follow through. If you need an accountability buddy, get one. If you need to tell people what you are doing so your word and pride will sting if you don’t follow through, tell people. If you need to give yourself a penalty that hurts if you don’t create your work, create the penalty. If thinking of the people that will be missing your message and losing if you don’t create your work, pin up pictures of them (or images that remind you of them) in a visible area that you will NOT miss.
Speaking about the people that will miss your work, it is critical that you know who you are writing to. Without complicating things and going into a whole avatar creation process, pick someone you know or feel emotionally connected to that are directly affected by your work, and post a picture of them in your work space.
Last, you need to listen and adapt (and continue).
I know I said two, but I’m giving you a bonus here. This is a quick one, though. No worries. 😉
It is critical that you take the feedback from your loyal audience and mistakes you make and adjust and keep creating. This will happen a lot and you will keep adapting, adjusting, and recalibrating.
Rinse and repeat.
It’s that simple.
So…
What are you waiting for?
Conclusion
By regularly creating your written, audio, or video content you will build your confidence, style, and audience! It is common sense and echoed by the greats in history that by doing the thing you are on a path to guaranteed improvement and potentially excellence!
When you keep producing, I firmly believe that you will soon become an expert in that type of communication style.
What do you do once you reach that point?
I would challenge you to branch off and tackle the next, least scary communication type. You don’t HAVE to, but if you can get yourself to, it could be extremely rewarding and you never know if you will grow to enjoy this new style more than you think!
Another option is, of course, to find a partner or to outsource that part of your online presence. It’s all up to you.
Definitely do not force yourself to do something you absolutely hate. This is not the point here and life is way too short for those shenanigans. 😉
Well, that’s pretty much it!
In closing, I want to gift you with another video from someone who we all need to listen to more and apply more of what we learn from him.
Key point, APPLY.
Are you inspired?
Do you feel connected to that burning thing inside you?
Strike while the iron is hot!
I hope this article helped you in some way! Please comment – good or bad – and share your struggles, wins or feedback on anything related to this article!
All my best to you and your music!
Let’s make a ruckus!