How to Move Forward in your Career

so i just came back from a family trip and had some time to reflect on my career especially with lots of family members asking me what it's like, basically how i got here, etc. i went up for a trip for my cousin's debut (you know where a girl turns 18 and it's like a massive deal) and they had me do an "18 treasures", and the way we did it was that we had 18 people each give life advice to this new adult. i was assigned to give a speech about risk taking, and thought these points would be useful to any upcoming producer here or anyone trying to take on any sort of career.

in my speech, i mentioned that my turning point in my life was that i dropped out of college and quit my job to pursue music full time. but the message of "taking risks" obviously wasn't enough, cuz anyone can go on robinhood and make some stupid ass wallstreet bet and go "high risk high reward".

the question and the biggest elephant in the room was "how did you know when to jump"? and my point was just that i kinda just knew. it was obvious, and it should be obvious for everyone else making these types of decisions.

the truth is i didn't cut school or quit my job cold turkey, it was actually a very gradual process. in my free time, i made demos and uploaded them to soundcloud. i used this site called cloudkillers which was kinda cool - you would tie your soundcloud to the site which would allow you to make a comment on a song in it song pool, and in return you would get a comment in return. I'd get like a bazillion comments after a couple weeks cuz that's all i would do in my free time aside from producing music. it was an excellent way to get feedback and build a network of colleagues who would be music i'd send to for opinions or collaborations. incredibly great way to grow. while i was doing that i was also just doing upkeep on social media, getting it set up and making it look pretty etc. it wasn't until someone in my network tied me to my first manager, he got me my first form of income and that's what i realized i can check all the boxes to quit everything for music full time.

while that's my story, my point is to explain that even though quitting may seem like a jump to others, it just felt like i was walking the whole time. i was making very small decisions every day to get me where i am today. you don't have to do anything that's out of your character to move in the right direction towards your goals.

these small but plenty decisions prepare you for your arrival at your destination. whether it's practicing, building a network making friends, studying the market, whatever. the more you do these things, the more you become the person at your goal. the second i made that "jump" was just another baby step in the path of many other baby steps.

kj sawka made a similar statement - after considering all the factors of success, consistency seems to be what it always boils down to. doesn't matter if you're a trop dj or selling feet pics online, both of them had to be consistent at doing what they do. 

this involves getting your work out there. you HAVE to release music, consistent enough where people enjoy the material you put out and enjoy the ride you're taking them on. maybe they don't enjoy it, idk, at least you're consistent.

this leads me to another important discussion i had over the weekend - my aunt wanted to be a speaker, but she had no where to start. i asked her "what's stopping her?" and it boiled down to that she was afraid of what people might think of her. to cut the fluff, what she wanted to speak about wasn't something everyone can grasp.

but i had to make the point: not everyone will accept what you preach. some people will oppose you. in fact, most people don't even want to spend the energy opposing you. if it's true that you will attract what you put out, then it should also be true that i have received electro house enjoyers as a fanbase because i put out electro house music - which IS what happened.

people shouldn't even be a factor in whether or not you want to do something you love (unless you're in politics, or commerce). if other people's judgments prevent you from moving forward, then start with working privately. write an essay about your thoughts. practice your speeches in front of a mirror. make demos in silence. keep them in your hard drive until you're ready. don't just not make something because you think someone might not like it. 

if you want to move forward, do literally anything and you'll get somewhere. i use this mentality in creative blocks and sessions as well. it is CERTAINLY better than getting nowhere. when you can't put anything down on a DAW, often times it's because you find it difficult to make anything that matches exactly to your expectations. remove those expectations and accept humility. make absolute bullshit. you never know if it'll sound cool unless you try. polish it later. 100% of the time i'm making art i am expecting to make absolute shit. it's so fun this way, because not only is it completely childish behavior it is also the most productive.

when you do this enough times, building strategy on that process by learning from repetitive processes, and refining the shit that you put out, you'll find yourself in the top 1% and have no fucking clue how you got here just by... walking.

anyways, the moral of the story are these things:

• you move forward by walking a lot, others see it as a reckless jump.

• fear (especially of judgment) is the mind (and progress) killer.

• accept humility and stop giving a fuck