Young Horn Life: September 2012

I have entered my second year of being self employed, so I thought I would share some of the things I learned in my first year. Enjoy!

In my 'office'.

1. Try to keep from explaining yourself. This equals a shut mouth and very open ears. You learn a lot that way. People say you'll be considered wiser than you actually are.

2. A lot of would-be problems or potential sticky situations get solved by letting time pass. Be patient. Let things unfold.

3. You can almost turn anything into a money-maker if you pitch it right. I know 'money' is sort of a bad word these days, but it sure is necessary for people who are self-employed or own their own businesses. How else will you make rent?

4. When all else fails, teach what you know. It's an efficient way to earn a living, and you provide a good service for people who need to learn!

5. On that note, I'll go one further: Identify the thing that came easy to you in your life. Do it, spread the knowledge of how to do it to others. It may be the one thing you master in your lifetime. You owe it to yourself and the world to offer up something you've mastered. It'll fulfill you. You will also be giving a gift to the world with your unique talent. For whatever reason, the thing that came easy for me was horn playing.

6. Write emails. People don't know you exist until you make contact with them. That's how stuff happens - people need stuff done and you can do it for them. But you can't do it for them if they don't know you exist.

7. Always show up to stuff. Don't presume you're not needed until you find out first hand in person. Be that faithful person that always comes through. DON'T be a flake. Flakiness is a good way to not succeed.

8. "Blood of diligence, wounds of disappointment". I have these words written on a white board in my living room. Success takes time to build up, and guess what? There's a lot of failures, mistakes, and unfortunate circumstances along the way. Tomorrow is a new day. Try again. One day one of your 'try agains' will eventually gain you traction and move you forward.

9. Don't use social networks how most people use them. Definitely put them to use for your business - it's a great way to make contacts and keep in touch with the people involved with your business. However, if you really need it, have a very private sphere for your personal accounts. Rewire how you look at and use facebook, twitter, instagram, etc. Potential clients are not people with whom you want to share info on your bad days.

I have realized that since I work for myself my business is pretty much always 'open' or on display for people. I have to be very careful with what I project to the world. It isn't difficult; it just requires me to think twice about what I say and do. Facebook definitely falls under that umbrella.

10. Keep the people you want to be like in your sights, and you will naturally end up being like them. It is like the flower that positions itself towards the direction of the sun. It grows towards its nourishment. Also keep tracking those you don't want to be like. It's not good to focus on negative things, but it helps to remind yourself of how you don't want to end up.

11. Organization. Organization. Organization. Your life and business are messes without it. I know this first hand. Those who know me personally know what a huge statement this is. I'm naturally a messy, unorganized person. But if I want to see money in my bank account, I need to be on top of my game. I need to be organized.

12. To some extent, you don't need anyone's permission to do what you want to do. I draw this thought from two specific artists I really like: Bill Callahan and St Vincent. Both in their careers have had to record at home with very limited resources and equipment. Their limitations never stopped them from doing what they really wanted to do - create music.

When I was in college, there were many things I wanted to do (like becoming a really proficient musician and writing my own music). One day this past year, I was playing with a group of friends in my home. It was only a jam session, but it was a lot of fun and what we were playing wasn't even that bad. I remember saying, "I wish I knew I could have done this in college." My environment never looked like how I expected it to, and that stopped me from doing what I wanted to do. Life will never be perfect, and it's probably not going to be ideal for most of the time you're alive. Just get up, do, and don't apologize for it (unless maybe it's really bad).