If you’re setting up your own business, working for somebody else, writing a book, creating your own art or whatever it may be, what do you want to say that makes you different to everybody else?
How will people notice you over the white noise of the world?
Maybe you’re writing a novel for love, for money or both, but does the world really need yet another novel which is the same as thousands of others? If you’re a musician, does the world need yet another version of whatever the latest big thing is because that’s what’s popular or that’s what the market ‘wants’? By the time, you release it into the world, things will have moved on and your anonymous masterpiece will be lost in the sands of time.
In 2014, the prolific American musician Jack White put out an album ‘A Letter Home’ with Neil Young on his own record label Third Man which was recorded in a 1947 Voice-O-Graph vinyl recording booth.
You may ask why he felt the need to do go to these lengths to record an album when technology makes things so much easier these days, but Jack White has always been committed to making music his own way and this was the first time a major artist used this technique in decades, so it got noticed.
It was different.
Not just because it was ‘novel’ but also because Jack and his company Third Man stand for quality, beauty and tradition and succeed at doing it in their own contemporary way.
Third Man Records stands for a lot of things and when you stand for things, people come to you — Jack White
Whether you like the music or not, you know that you will always get a certain level of quality and commitment from Third Man and Jack White. They found a way to work with the system while being totally themselves.
What do you believe in?
Like many things in life, it can be scary committing yourself to something. You’re not saying that other things are less significant, just that this particular thing means something more to you and you will support it. And you will stand for it.
Find your own path.
In this case, I’m not talking about wider concepts here such as a fair society and equality, as I don’t need to focus on that here. I’m talking more about your personal stance on what you can contribute to the world.
Among other things, I spend my time writing songs, poetry and about travel and personal development and coaching people to be more confident in their life choices.
I do everything I can within my power to make all of those things the best that they can be. In my own way.
Some people may hate it, while others love it and I’ve reached a point in my life where I’m okay with that. Of course, I’d be lying if I said criticism didn’t hurt, however, these days, I don’t focus on it over everything else and this has helped me to be more comfortable and proud of who I am, what I do and what I stand for.
I read a lot online about how to write better, use social media more effectively and get more clients and it’s all really useful, but I’ve found that the key element is to somehow incorporate yourself — who you are and what you represent — into this process. Otherwise, you’re just another person following some rules.
When you look at yourself in the mirror, what do you really need to do or say today so much so that it would physically hurt you if you didn’t?
You have something to say and nobody can say it in the same way.
Be brave!
Let’s not be afraid and take a stand together.
So, with this in mind:
- who are you really?
- does what you do work with that? And if not, what can you do about it?
- what do you want to really say that you have not dared to say before?
- And ultimately, what do you want to show the world that you stand for?
Photo by Sudhith Xavier on Unsplash
Away From The Noise 