Andy Lykens

Innovating and operating through growth

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The Story You Tell Yourself

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“I would love to be able to do that, but I’m just not that kind of person.”

How many times have you heard someone say this phrase? Or have said it yourself?

Often times in conversations with family members, colleagues, friends, and co-workers, this and similar phrases, are used as reasons why you can’t.

These statements are a complete affirmation of fear. They are nothing more than an excuse to NOT do something.

And a bad excuse at that.

And we allow ourselves these cop-outs too often.

The next time you say something “just isn’t your personality” or that you “don’t have the kind of [blank]” you need, try telling yourself a different story.

Just because you haven’t typically done something doesn’t mean you can’t.

What if the way you are is something that can be changed?

What would it take for you to be “that person”?

What would it look like?

How would you act?

What could you accomplish?

Think about it. Picture it. Pretend for one day.

…and watch what happens.

What kind of story are you telling yourself? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

The Certified Best Way To Fail To Impress A Music Supervisor

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Illiterate.

That’s exactly how most people come across when they communicate.

Not because they can’t read and write.

This is much worse.

Most people can read and write. They even know a lot of words. But despite all this fluency, they do the worst thing possible.

They write first, and read second.

Failing to read

The internet contains a host of information. Tons. Yet you wouldn’t believe the outreach I get where people still don’t know what they’re doing when they send an email.

Questions like “How can you help me?” or outreach like “Please listen to my music.”

Be mindful of the person you’re contacting and respect their time enough to READ FIRST.

Then draft a thoughtful, succinct, and relevant message.

This Simple Method Helps Song Pitchers Land Placements

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Putting things…off.

No matter how productive you are everyone is guilty of dragging their feet now and then.

The crazy part is if you look around for advice on avoiding procrastination, you get a bunch of productivity tips. Stuff like ‘make a list’ or ‘give yourself a time limit.’ Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying those things don’t work.

But how many of them can you consistently rely on or remember?

For me, being more productive and improving has a lot to do with personal work-flow. Lists work for me sometimes, but not always. Time limits don’t apply for me as I tend to work focused and fast once I start on a task.

So is there a method that is common to everyone across the board to help us not only choose to do what’s next, but do it in a timely way?

There is, and it’s called your gut.

For the past few years I’ve been really trying to improve my productivity by simply listening to myself. I do this as often as I get a feeling that starts with

I should really…

Whether the end of that statement is ‘take out the trash,’ ‘tell that person I like their shoes’ or ‘reach out to John about any new projects he may need music for,’ it’s been extremely useful.

Case in point, yesterday I was plugging away working on a license when suddenly I thought “Gee, I haven’t heard from Arnold for a while, I should check in” immediately followed by “and you know what, there’s another creative director in North Carolina who hasn’t touched base lately.”

I wrote them down, finished what I was doing, and then sent two really brief emails.

The next thing I know I had a music search from Arnold and a really nice note from the creative director saying he’d check out one of our indie bands.

Not too shabby!

This happens to me all the time now, and every time I listen to my ‘shoulds,’ I end up not only getting more done, but feeling REALLY good about it.

What about you? Do you ever use your instincts as a good indicator of what to do next? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.