One of the best lessons I ever learned was from a guy who is doing 5 to 10 years in federal prison for stealing from his friends and business partners. He even stole from me and my then wife and new baby. But, alas, he did give me good advice. “Never look into another mans pockets.” In other words, never feel jealousy over a person that is better at negotiating than you. Never hate a person for making more than you. Also, never cover another’s success with your jealous poison.
Keep your eyes on your own yoga matÂ
I am speaking to all musicians out there, especially to the person that just called me to dump on all the successful bands that have come out of our circle of friends.
“They are a cover band; they are a bro country; they are terrible song writers; they only do well at Smith’s because all of their church friends come to their gigs; they are only making it because of American Idol; they are only making it because their parents have money; their last album sucked; I am better than everyone, but it seems I’m the only one that gets the genius of me!”
Yeah, I just lost a “friend” because for one of the few times in my life I spoke my mind and let my raw feelings go. If you can’t be happy for your friends success then go straight to hell.
Damn people, we are all in this together. If you are jealous then go get help, it’s your problem. For every successful person I know there are 100 “unsuccessful” people that helped get them there. In other words, we aren’t all meant to be stars, but we are all one big family.
A true artist, in my humble opinion, judges their success on the sincerity of their work. Did I make the music that fed my soul? Did I treat people with respect and in a fully dignified manner? Did I stay true to my principles? At the end of the day, am I proud my work?
The second you judge yourself against the success of others, you have lost all respect for yourself and you are just plain doing it wrong.
I’m so done tonight, I’m so done. I wish my passion was landscaping, or painting houses, or banking. I wish I was a lawyer, or a drummer, anything but a musician. (Just a joke to see if you were paying attention, I love drummers.)
Anyway, I probs should’ve left it alone and not posted this but damn, have some respect for what we are all fighting for.