Keep it simple stupid..

Keep it simple, small, stupid…In this week’s episode of Creative Habit we chat about the current job market and the thought that if you can’t find a job in today’s market maybe it’s better to create your own.  I made the decision to start my own business 13 years ago (I can’t believe that…I feel so old….) and have never gone back to a traditional job.  There are always ups and downs with doing this.  I get easily overwhelmed with making projects too big, grandiose, and overblown. As a result, I’ve started to think of my various projects and ideas in terms of acting technique.

When I’m on stage I always break down each moment into something called beats.  Within that beat I say: “What do I want”?  “How am I going to get it?”  “What is standing in my way?”  Then, I either get what I want…or I don’t…and then I either try again…or move on to another intention.  These moments (beats) are simple…when you get too complicated, my performance gets muddy and unclear.

So I start with keeping it simple, small, stupid.  I now do this with my career too…Let’s take my decision to start teaching singing 13 years ago.  Here’s what I would tell my slender, adorable, fresh faced 22 year old now.

Think small at first. My immediate response is to say “Not only am I going to be a voice teacher…I’m going to take over the world with my voice classes.  I’ll be on every billboard and teach thousands of students…I’ll be the guru of the voice world.”  Um, yeah…that’s not going to happen…right away.  Instead I’ll break down my career choices/projects into acting terminology.  Here’s what I say to myself.\

What’s my intention? I want to bring in a weekly wage teaching people to sing.How do I go about this?(I use active verbs for this)…I’m going to exhibit my own style and set myself apart in my teaching technique by using humor, movement, and a huge amount of commitment to each student. (I’ve since learned that this is exhausting…but gets results.)

What’s my obstacle? In some cases (many cases) the obstacle standing in the way is…me.  I question if I’m good enough to do this.  Will people think I’m weird?  Will people not be able to handle my critique?

Will I succeed or fail depending on my obstacle?   In my case, no.  Enough people were intrigued by my ability to combine voice, movement and visualization techniques to help them sing better.  Some people are not intrigued.  But it doesn’t matter.   Remember my goal is to create a weekly wage teaching people how to sing.  I don’t need to teach the whole world to sing.  I’m not for everyone…I’m a niche.  And where there is a niche, a need, a void…people will find you.

To be inspired watch this…