What's your Mount Everest?

Hi there,

Most rock climbers and mountaineers see Mount Everest as their ultimate goal: the pinnacle of their achievements! But what about you rock musicians and of course all other musicians and those of you who work in the music industry? What is your ultimate goal: the pinnacle of your music career?

Indeed have you even stopped to think about what you would ultimately like to achieve within your music career? I know that this is a topic that raises its head with my clients on a regular basis. Can you relate to this too?

So, what's the big deal? What are the benefits in spending time working out what your ultimate goals are? Well for one it gives you clarity and direction: if you don't know what you are wanting to achieve within you music career, how would you know what opportunities to take when they arise or how would you know that you had achieved your ultimate goal?

If you are serious about creating a music career for yourself clarity and direction is really important, especially if you want to employ a manager, or get signed to a record company, as they need to be aware of your long-term aspirations - they are not going to be interested in someone who only wants a one-hit wonder, that would not be a good return on their investment in you! Similarly if you are wishing to work in the music industry, at interviews it is commonplace to be asked "where do you see yourself in 5 years time?".

In addition, if you are part of a band it is vitally important that you share the same long-term music career vision as that of your fellow band members - if for instance you want to make playing music into a full time career, with a record deal etc, but the other band members are wanting to keep the band's playing as a weekend hobby, then you are in trouble, because you will be pulling one way and they will be pulling in another direction and inevitably you will part company.

So this is just a couple of reasons why I place such importance around you knowing what your ultimate music career goals are. The following two exercises will help you to not only work out what it is you want to achieve, but will also help you work out how far away you are from achieving your ultimate goals.

Exercise 1: What are your ultimate goals? One way you can find out what your ultimate goals are, is to answer the following question: If your success is guaranteed in the music world/industry, what would you do? Who would you be? What would you want to achieve?

Try to be as clear and specific as you can, but don't hold back - be as creative as you can and don't worry what other people may say about your ultimate goals. Don't forget that your success is guaranteed - so don't start to make excuses as to why you can't do something!

For instance: you may want to be a renowned singer songwriter, who tours all over the world playing at large stadiums to massive crowds of fans, and gaining many awards for your work. You may wish to work collaboratively with other famous singers and musicians or write soundtracks for movies.

Don't worry if your ultimate goals feel more like dreams - dreams can become a reality: I'm sure that climbing Mount Everest is a dream that a lot of mountaineers have - for some 2,500+ of them it has become a reality!

So taking the scenario of Mount Everest a bit further, if you were to draw a picture of a mountain, you can undertake the next exercise to see how far away you are from achieving your ultimate goals.

Exercise 2: How far up your mountain are you? Having drawn a picture of a mountain, you need to place your ultimate goals on the summit. Now to summit Mount Everest, mountaineers have to climb up to various stages on route. At the bottom they start at Base Camp (BC) and then climb up to the following: Advanced Base Camp (ABC); Camps 1; 2; 3; and 4; before reaching the summit (weather permitting!). Mark these stages on your drawing of your mountain as shown.

Before you reach Base Camp as a mountaineer you will have had a number of months, and in most cases years, of gaining skills and experience in the craft of mountaineering and rock climbing. Similarly, as a musician you will have gained skills and experience such as writing music and lyrics, or playing an instrument to a particular standard, or performing live etc. And this is important for you to have achieved before you actually make the serious decision of making music your career. Having done so, you can place yourself at Base Camp on your mountain.

At this point you may have decided to undertake a music course: a degree in sound engineering or in Music Technology for instance, or a DJ course with an organisation such as Access to Music, for example, in order to gain more experience, and as a way of seeking opportunities to learn about the music industry and gain many contacts. If this is the case then you may consider yourself to be at Advanced Base Camp. Each Camp signifies an important step forwards in your music career to help you reach your ultimate goals.

Take a good look at what you have achieved in your music career to date to see where you think you are on your mountain in relation to your summit and your ultimate music career goals and place a mark on your mountain to indicate your current position.

You can continue to use this exercise until you actually reach your ultimate music career goals. For example, if an opportunity comes your way and you are not sure whether to take it or not, ask yourself, where will this take you in relation to your ultimate music goals? Will it take you to the next Camp or not? If not, then maybe you should look for other opportunities that will - so you see a further benefit of knowing your ultimate music career goals is that it will help you make decisions!

I hope you have found this a useful exercise. If you would like further tips and guidance to help you with your music career, take a look at my '5 Top Tips to get your Music Career on Track' which can be downloaded for free from my website: www.bravura-group.com

So, what's your Mount Everest?

With very best wishes,

Bravura Group
helping you brave the music industry

http://www.bravura-group.com

t: 01246 231 249 / 0845 456 460
e: lindsey@bravura-group.com

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I work with signed and unsigned artists and personnel working in the Music Industry who want to become more productive, creative and ultimately more successful in their music careers, whilst enjoying a more enriched, fulfilling and balanced personal life.

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