Canadian Musician - January / February 2020

BUSINESS Steve Kenny is a recovering musician turned artist manager, a transition some refer to as “turning to the dark side.” He is the co-founder of Traverse Music Management and author of The Ascender, a resource for artists looking to grow their career in an effective and sustainable way. www.traversemusic.ca/theascender. By Steve Kenny Missed Opportunities FOMO is real, my friends. The fear of missing out is something we all deal with on an ongoing basis in both our personal and professional lives. Social media inundates us with images of the success everyone else is enjoying, and then we get self-conscious about why we are not achieving these same levels of success. We get a tiny glimpse into someone else’s world and suddenly we compare everything we are doing to that single image. The result is us asking ques- tions like: am I missing out on something? When it comes to our work life, this manifests in us and leaves us wondering if we are missing out on an opportuni- ty. It’s an important question to ask and it has a very simple answer (with a very large asterisk). So let’s tackle this one to- day and move past it: Am I missing out on opportunities? The Lead-In When I’m talking with an artist, this ques- tion inevitably comes up and usually caus- es stress on their end. We see the results and successes others are achieving and want to emulate that, assuming we are missing out on some untapped, easy op- portunity – those 1 million Spotify plays, the month-long Australian tour, the viral YouTube video, or the song placement in a national ad campaign. But when you see these successes others are having, you are only getting a single frame of an entire movie. You don’t see the hours of work they put in to reach 62 CANADIAN MUSICIAN this goal, you don’t see all the other things they sacrificed to achieve this, you don’t see all the opportunities they passed up to stay focused on this singular task. We want to assume it was easy, that they were lucky, that it was some kind of fluke that landed them this opportunity. And sure, that may happen now and then, but for the most part, this level of achievement only comes with heaps of hard work and focus. You’re not doing yourself any fa- vours thinking it comes easy for everyone else but is somehow hard for you. In doing so, you’re only selling yourself short. The Answer (and Asterisk) Let’s just cut to the chase and put the cards on the table. Am I missing out on opportunities? Yes, you are. Now get over it. There are literally hundreds of op- portunities you could realistically pursue at this moment. Do you really think you are going to take all of those projects on and be successful? Because that will nev- er happen. The question you should be asking is: Which opportunities do I want to pursue? Take control of the situation. Make the decision on which key projects you feel will benefit you the most and make these your purpose. Eliminate all the other things that don’t drive towards making good on these opportunities. To be clear, I’m not saying you should just stop completing tasks that need to be done, but don’t do things just for the sake of doing them and then wonder why you are not getting results. If you create Face- book events for all your shows but then never invite anyone or do anything to cre- ate engagement around these posts, do you think you will get any results? Either stop doing this or create a plan on how you can effectively use this tool to pro- mote your shows. By creating a purpose for your tasks, it helps you decide if it is worth putting the time into it or not. The reality is that nobody really posts their failures – the things they tried and didn’t succeed at or the months and months of work and strategic planning it took to get those 1 million Spotify plays. You need to remember this when you see a post where someone is celebrating their success. You need to give them credit for picking an opportunity and running with it to that extent. You need to ask yourself which opportunities you are chasing with that same passion. If you take this approach, you will no longer need to fear missing oppor- tunities, because you will have already decided on which ones you are pursu- ing, and know in time you will pursue others. In the long run this will produce true results and you will naturally create systems for success. It will also give you the space to then pursue other oppor- tunities with the same passion. So remember: you are missing out on opportunities, but that’s okay because you are on your own path, not someone else’s.

Canadian Musician - January / February 2020 | Page 62