The more and more I work towards my goals, the less I really care about trying to fend off my ‘competition’ and here is why.

First, most of them give up. They get overwhelmed, run out of money, lose their passion from being over involved, or many many other reasons. These people ran into these problems because they didn’t do something right. The two biggest probably being lack of a solid business plan or a product or service that they were not necessarily qualified to offer.

Secondly, I offer quality. Regardless of what my product or service is, I work and train hard so that I know what I am offering is something worthwhile. I am dedicated to being great at what I do and keeping that quality level high.

How does this tie into Drive and Dedication?

Drive allows me to keep stomping through the muck on my way to reaching my goals. Without this drive, I would be like most of my competition and end up giving up.

Something would come up and instead of trying to figure out how to work through the problem, I would just say “Screw this, I am getting a regular office job and collecting my $60k a year while trying to save enough for vacations, retirement, and whatever else isn’t going to happen”.

Instead, I push through, and in pushing through I learn.

My dedication to learning and training to become a master at my crafts turns right back around and gives me that drive that I need to continue building.

For example, let’s say I am a web developer(I am), and let’s say I have all these skill sets for building websites and driving traffic to them(I do), then in order to monetize those skill sets, I need to find clients.  “Oh no….I’ve never done that, I’ve always had a boss tell me what I am supposed to be doing.”

No Clients = No Money

No Money = Failing Business

Time to start marketing myself…

This alone would scare most people into updating their resume and sending it out to every office job they qualify for.  “Marketing means talking to people and selling them stuff. No one likes to be sold stuff, they want what they want when they want it.  How will I ever figure that out?”

Instead of just giving up and trying to ‘market’ my skill set to an employer so that I can make a capped salary, I would embrace having to obtain this new knowledge. Gaining this new knowledge is going to mean getting new mentors in a field I’ve never been in. Hours and hours of research on case studies and split tests. Meeting and interacting with high level people that already have this knowledge.

Making more contacts!…see how this can start to become more fun that just sweating it out reading books?

Knowing how to find and get in touch with people that actually need my product or service  would not only make getting clients easier, it also adds one more skill to my skill set. This increases my value which in turn will increase my own  confidence in selling said skill set to those that need it.

This example is a true story and shows you how embracing the unknown can build you up to become better at what you do.  As well, while embracing these unknowns, I am carving out a path that will set me above my competition and keep any clients that I obtain, wanting to work with me time and time again.

Without being dedicated to your goals you will lose the drive that got you started on them in the first place.  Don’t stop, keep pushing through. If you do this, you will work it out and you will be better because of it.

Later that same evening I met up with some other friends of mine, during which time one of them begins to talk about the dodo bird.

Before this instance, I am pretty sure I had not thought about or heard ‘dodo bird’ in well over a year, probably much longer.  So why two times in one day?

Another example could be when you are driving along down the road, or maybe sitting at a red light, and you feel like the person next to you is looking at you. You look over only to find that they are! How did you know, or better yet, feel that?

We started to discuss this idea more throughout the night, more for just the brain exercise than anything.  We tossed around some concepts, one in particular involving telepathy.

Say in the ‘greater energy’ that we are all a part of, my thoughts are not confined to the inside of my brain.  Instead, like lights beaming through fog, my thoughts both present and recent past are radiating around in my circle of energy.

Being subconsciously in tune with that greater energy, my friends energy is able to pick up on those thoughts which in turn start floating around in his circle.

Same goes for the person staring you down from the car next to yours. With them focusing their attention on you, their energy is focused on you, and your surrounding energy mixes and mingles with theirs, giving you that feeling deep inside that someone is looking at…or focusing on you.

So without making a conscious mental effort, much like breathing, we could be picking up on the thoughts or wills of those around us.

As with most of us, I spend my time doing things to help me get through this mess of an existence. The goal being to increase my own mental and physical being. What about those times when it is not for myself though, why should I feel inclined to give my efforts and thoughts to anyone else?

The answer is actually much simpler than you might think…

It is because they deserve it.

The first conversation was about music, festivals more specifically, and how for those few days everything was perfect. Then it’s over and everyone has to go home, back to their real life, real jobs, real families, and real responsibilities.

I believe I said something along the lines of “let me know if you ever figure out how to stay in the perfect world forever”. To which they responded “Oh don’t worry, you will probably be the only person I do tell…because you deserve it”.

This made me think, do I really? After further review, I agree that I do deserve that.

Later in the day I was meeting with another person who is very active in the local music scene by heading up a collective called The Moon and Pluto.  During our conversation we also stumbled upon the idea of Deserving.

We both support these collectives with our spare time, which neither of us has much of. For instance, not only does she work full time, she also has a family to take care of and all of the responsibilities that go along with managing that. She is not a musician, so why not spend her free time doing something for just for herself? Why spend that valuable little bit of time promoting and supporting these bands(which is full time on its own)?

For no other reason than “they deserve it”.

They are working as hard as they can on their own, and only able to reach so far before their efforts are spent. They are doing everything right and making amazing music.

Trying to write, record, and release music, booking tours by contacting venues that have no idea who you are(ever tried that?…), contacting press, obtaining merch, and all of the other items on the ‘how to be a successful band’ list can be overwhelming.

All of these things can definitely distract from the creative process and even end a thriving band. The thought of my good friends not continuing to create music that excites and inspires me is a sad one. That is the last thing I want to see, which brings me back “they deserve it”. They deserve any help that I, or anyone else, can give them.

Seeing my friends follow their dreams, be them musically or any other, and succeed at what they do makes me proud. I can only hope that if any of them were ever able to help me out, they would feel that I too, deserve it.

Christmas and the new year came and went by fast. I had already been working on getting some things together in order to help jump start my progress in 2010, but it still feels like the time flew by and I have more to do still.

Now into the second work week of the year, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed, but by no means unmotivated. There are a few new years resolutions and some long term goals to get cracking on this year, so lets cover a few of them shall we?

Number one on my list of things to do in 2010 is work on my businesses. There are a few ventures that have started to get off the ground, but have not made the kind of progress I would like to see. Part of this, I am sure, is due to me working on all of these at once instead of focusing on them one at a time which is something I plan to remedy during the course of this year.

What ventures am I talking about?

-WEB DESIGN-

For starters, web design. For much of 2009 I have put together websites, focusing mostly on small businesses. Word really started to spread close to the end of the year, but budgets were also locked down around that time, but those relationships are moving forward at this time.

Now that the new year is upon us, new budgets are upon us, and I have been hard at work seeking out those looking for my services. Daily I am sending out quotes for projects of all scopes, managing a few working projects, and trying to connect with people and business owners.

-AFFILIATE MARKETING-

Affiliate marketing continues to tease me and I continue to stay just interested enough.  There are a few sites up and running that are actually bringing in some sales, but nothing super substantial at this time.

I plan to continue vamping these sites up as well as building new ones throughout the year.  Everyday I am learning more about marketing, SEO, sales copy, and everything that goes into driving traffic to websites and selling products once they are there.

Hopefully my continued efforts will continue to pay off more and more.

-AUDIO ENGINEERING-

Next in line of importance is finding a recording studio and people with the knowledge and willingness to teach me the ways of this audio world. Separating from my last company has given me time to think. During that time I tried to think of things that I love to do, regardless of monetary compensation, but potentially make a profession. At this point in my life there are not many things that make this list, but high up on it was recording music.

Being a part of that world is something I thrive in and after having spent the last few years honing my skills both in the recording, mixing, and mastering, and also as a musician, I feel like I am ready to make some big moves in this area. In order to do that, I myself need more schooling on the subject.

While attending school for this would be great, and something that is definitely in my foreseeable future, I am not sure it is in my cards at this time. Instead, I need to spend some time with the masters of that domain.

As of this posting, I have had the opportunity to meet and be invited to work with a high level player in the audio world. A close family friend and he go way back which is how I was introduced to begin with. Pending this becoming a regular thing, I will surely be posting up any new developments and hopefully new knowledge.

-OZONE LAIR STUDIO-

While we are on the subject of audio recording, another one of my projects is the infamous Ozone Lair, my recording studio. So far this year the Lair has been regularly active. We’ve been recording new music of many styles, mixing and mastering some fresh material from the end of 2009, writing music, rehearsing music, and having some intense, creative, jams.

I have high hopes for the Ozone Lair this year and look forward to working with many great musicians.

-INDEPENDENT CD-

Something just getting off the ground is a small project I started to match some of my resources with a specific market demand. Short run, low cost cds with custom print jobs. My target market is the independent musicians, though we can meet the needs of any data CD/DVD project as well.

Other than making sales there is not much that needs to be done with this. The production is fully functional, as well as the website is able to take orders. There are a few SEO items that I plan to take care of in the near future which will hopefully drive some traffic to the site, as it is all word of mouth at this time.

Those are my top projects for this year with my goal continually being supporting myself comfortably via my own business ventures.

Now on to the mother of all non profit ventures…

-HIJACKING MUSIC-

That’s right ladies and germs, if you haven’t heard it is time to pay attention. Hijacking Music is coming through and making a ton of noise in 2010.

For the past two years Hijacking Music has been developing as a music collective currently based out of Atlanta. We have a very strong core group of artists and groups, all of which are releasing their strongest efforts yet this year.

Also during those two years I’ve been pushed to the forefront to try and guide us through this tricky, sticky, and downright icky maze of all things required to survive the music industry. At first I fought it, but now am embracing it to help build something awesome. So if you know somebody that knows somebody that could potentially be a good contact to have…hit me up

Look out this year for the first Hijacking Music Festival, HJM CD Sampler Vol 2, HJM Christmas Album, and a hand full of HJM presents Art/Music shows scattered over the course of the year.

“Do you think if Friday was the weekend, and Thursday was Friday, that it would be as hard to work on Thursday as it is on Friday?”

I think it was after having seen the stream of facebook messages which all had similar meaning.

It is hard to work on Friday because once you are finished you are FREE!

Think about this.  It is 11am Friday morning, and you are sitting there halfheartedly working on a not so important work project.  Clicking around on the computer, reading whatever not work related websites you can access through your companies firewall. You are READY to GO!  It does not matter what you plan on doing once you leave work, all that matters is that it is what YOU want to be doing.

Almost like the anxiety you get when waiting for christmas eve to end and christmas morning to be there. The same feeling you get right before the big game that you and your team have been practicing for all year.  It’s the weekend, it’s your time to do whatever you want.

So I started thinking, what if you had more time to do what you want. How many days of doing whatever you want to do are fulfilling enough to warrant a feeling of going back to work?

Hence the question, “Do you think if Friday was the weekend, and Thursday was Friday, that it would be as hard to work on Thursday as it is on Friday?”

Would you get more work done if you only worked Monday through Thursday than a full 5 day schedule? Would you get that same feeling at 11am on Thursday morning knowing that as soon as you get off work you’ll be free again?

Based on the replies that I received, the general consensus is Yes, it would be just as hard to work as it is on Friday right now.

Ok, lets take it to one more day.  Thursday is now the weekend, you are only working 3 full days, Monday through Wednesday.

You take your job seriously, there are things you have to do in order for business to keep on trucking.  Are three 8 hour days long enough?  Do you think if you really buckled down for those 24 hours in the week you would be able to get everything done?

Instead of going to Tuesday being the last day of the work week, I want to try and flesh out an idea about this and commerce.

I suppose it really all depends on where your income is coming from, and what your income is numbers wise, for this idea to really get detailed. So lets just go with a standard 9 – 5 M – F work week. No 24 hour shops, no 7 day shops.

Most employers require that you work 40 hours a week.  This has been stable now for quite some time, and at least the last 15 or so years that I have been working.

At 32 hours a week you have to be really on your hustle to fit in 40 hours worth of work. If you had 40 hours worth of work to do.  If you had about 8 hours a week of idle time at the office, you at least now get to spend that time at home.

Cut to Wednesday and that is only 24 hours of work time to do what you normally do in 40 hours.  Can you do it? And if so, why are you not already doing that? Why drag out 24 hours worth of work for 40 hours?

Anyways, I guess I am starting to babble.  These are just some things to think about.  Maybe after some more diliberation one of us can come up with a solution that will give everyone more free time to do what they want and less time at work.

What if working is what you want to do in your free time?

- b