#carypierce1

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YOU CAN'T DO THAT

(This is an excerpt from a book I am working on about Being Creative for a Living. I will post a new chapter most Fridays… I genuinely hope this blog inspires you... thanks for following)

Get used to hearing that.

Better yet - get used to ignoring it - becuase you can do just about anything.

            My band, Jackopierce, was told for years: "we don't book acoustic duos;" "we don't do seated shows;" "we don't do non-smoking shows." "You can't do that." So we just quietly, slowly, kept growing our fanbase across the country to the point where we could dictate our terms instead of being dictated to.

            You can do just about whatever you are willing to put your mind to - period.

            You've heard the stories.. Sylvester Stalone took his script, "Rocky" to over 1,000 different people. He actually sold his dog to stay alive. Everyone told him he could not sell his script nor could he EVER dream of starring in the movie. "Rocky" was eventually made for $1.1 million but grossed $117 million. It was nominated for 10 Oscars and ended up winning 3 - including best picture. It also spawned 5 sequels.

            Roger Banister was told he could not run a four-minute mile. It was a physical impossibility. His legs would explode from the pressure and impact. In 1954 he broke the four-minute mile. Now high school kids do it. 

            Sell bottles of water? Sell expensive coffee? Make a record? Write a screenplay? Make a movie? "You can't do that!"

            Bah! Yes you can.

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GET UP EARLIER

(This is an excerpt from a book I am working on about Being Creative for a Living. I will post a new chapter every Friday - or as close as I can…Thanks to all my new Followers who found me through TuneCore & other places. I genuinely hope this blog inspires you to grow, learn and have FUN).

I have a silly saying: "It's hard to get out of bed when you're still in it.."

 If you really want to get something done, get up a little earlier than everyone else. Once you actually get out of bed and get moving - there's a magic to being one of the only ones up. You've started your day - you've started your life.

            Master legal-thriller writer, John Grisham, wrote his first book by waking up every day at 5am to write for 2-3 hours before work (he kept his day job). He did this for three years. He started his next novel the day after he finished his first - and since 1988, he's written a novel a year. There are over 235 million of his books in print.

            Most of the great leaders of all time got up early.

            Time to get up.

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GET OUT

(This is an excerpt from a book I am working on about Being Creative for a Living. I will post a new chapter every Friday - or as close as I can…Thanks to all my new Followers who found me through TuneCore. I genuinely hope this blog inspires you to grow whatever it is you wish to grow).

Nothing can replace FACE TIME. Plant Seeds. Send out Ships.

Financial Coach, Rick Ruby, said "if you're spending most of your time behind a desk, you're not doing business. You gotta get out there, take meetings, meet people."

            Great advice.

            I just got back from"exploratory" trips to both Santa Barbara, CA and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico for Jackopierce Destination Shows we have coming up (June 8 SB, Aug 17 MV - working on SM for Oct '13). A more detailed explanation of Destination Shows can be found here: http://carypierceblog.tumblr.com/post/20535571990/a-bit-of-history-of-destination-shows  

And more info can be found in our store: www.jackopierce.bigcartel.com

I have spent a LOT of time researching online. I've looked at tons and tons of pictures of hotels, rental houses, venues and places to see/things to do but nothing could replace going to these places, meeting these people face to face, walking the properties where the events will be held. Nothing comes close.

            My manager had put a lot of calls into places for me to go look at but nothing compares to meeting someone face to face and seeing things for real.

            I got more done is the days hanging with the local experts than I would have in weeks of trying to figure things over e-mail and scouring websites. They gave me the scoop on the places to visit, the restaurants to eat at, the things to do and the hotels to recommend. I also had the opportunity to walk to property and spend some time talking over the details of our Destination Show. I could now see the event unfolding.

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Other "Get Out's" 

      I was talking to an artist in Dallas about producing her record. She invited my wife and I out to her show. While I was there, I saw the owner of the club. We chatted for a bit and he mentioned that he had thrown Jackopierce's hat in the ring to play an extremely lucrative festival. I immediately called our manager and got him to work on getting us the show. He did. We got it. We got paid extremely well, sold thousands of dollars of CD's, T-shirts, played in front of over 5,000 people and had a blast! I'm glad I "got out" that night and saw that guy!

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            I love to go to Nashville every 2-3 months. I leave at 7am and I'm in my first writing appointment by 10am. I write for 2.5 days straight, take meetings in between, have lunches, dinners and I'm back home - only 2 nights away from home but I probably get more creative work done than I might in a month in Dallas - or if even if I lived in Nashville. Each trip costs about $800 but every one is paid back in spades. The more time I'm there and the more I write songs, and the more face time I spend with my manager, the more things seem to happen.

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SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF

(This is an excerpt from a book I am working on about Being Creative for a Living. I will post a new chapter every Friday - or as close as I can...This photo below is not of me).

People do not become obese in a day.

People do not usually go broke in a day. Books, screenplays, records, etc are usually not written in a day.

            I have to sweat a lot of small stuff or my business ventures would fail.

            Especially in this recessed economy, we see that a lot of people in a lot of companies did not sweat the small stuff. They were too focused on the "big picture" - too focused on growth – more, more, more. More employees, more product, more manufacturing. But a lot of people were not sweating the small details like: demand, cashflow, savings, prudence, frugality, taking it slow.

            Yes, I am a Big Picture Guy. I envision a new CD or an event and have people handle a lot of the "small stuff." But to completely ignore the small stuff is a big mistake. Great companies are usually great delegators. They get others to do the stuff they are not best at - but ultimately they are responsible for how those employees perform.

You always gotta keep your finger on the pulse.

            I love the popular book, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff." Great stuff. But I think it has given license to a lot of us to think of ourselves as "big picture" thinkers and forget about all the small stuff that goes into any major (or minor) undertaking.

            Even with my kids, it's the small stuff that matters. It's spending enough time with them to notice things about them. Has one of them picked up some new words or a new habit? With kids it's all about the little things: little gift, a little time spent, an encouraging word.

            There will always be a constant battle between sweating and not sweating the small stuff. Accept it.

            For a lot of wealthy people, it's all about the small stuff. It's about budgets, curbing spending, splitting meals, forgoing a new car or clothes or trips. It's about not overpaying when you're out with friends - not being the "hero" by picking up the check (something I used to do all the time.)

            If you think Millionaires are all out having caviar on their yachts, you need to read the "Millionaire Next Door," by Thomas Stanley and William Danko. They make it really clear that, for the most part, American millionaires are, indeed, sweating the small stuff of budgets and expenses. For most of them, that's how they became millionaires in the first place. They drive used Fords, buy suits off the rack and wear Timex watches.

            If that's not enough, read just about anything that Warren Buffett says. He's ALL about the small stuff.

            Here's to playing "small!" ;-)

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KNOW UNTIL YOU KNOW OTHERWISE

(This is an excerpt from a book I am working on about Being Creative for a Living. I will post a new chapter every Friday - or as close as I can.)

I don't want to come off metaphysical or airy-fairy here but you have to Know that things are going to happen.

I knew when jackopierce (my band - www.jackopierce.com) started, that we would eventually make records, travel in a Tour Bus and sign to a major label and publisher.

            Often things will not turn out exactly like you "knew" they would. Then you "know" different.

            Successful people Know. Others hope, dream, scheme, wait, wonder.

            When you Know something is going to happen, you can see it in the distance and you have something to aim for. You're just working towards getting "There" because you can "see" the "There."

            Apparently, airplanes are of- course 90% of the time. But they usually get to their destination.

            They get there because they know where they are going.

            Know where you are going. Know until you know otherwise.

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THERE IS A SEASON.. TURN, TURN, TURN

(This is an excerpt from a book I am working on about Being Creative for a Living. I will post a new chapter every Friday - or as close as I can.)

To Everything

Turn, Turn, Turn

There is a season

Turn, Turn, Turn

And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time to be born, a time to die

A time to plant, a time to reap

A time to kill, a time to heal

A time to laugh, a time to weep

A time to build-up, a time to break down

A time to dance, a time to mourn

A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together

A time of love, a time of hate

A time of war, a time of peace

A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing

 (adapted from the book of Ecclesiastes by Pete Seeger)

Remember that things are seasonal. In producing a record, there is the season of writing, then the season of recording and then the season of mixing and then the season of all of that being over. The next season could be more shows, writing a book or giving a talk or seminar - or all of it at once.

            With kids it's easier to gauge seasons and keep track of them because you are slowly enjoying where the child is now but knowing that soon he will sit up, walk, talk and then demand a cell phone.

            Parents with kids who have grown and left home are in a new season.

            Living in Dallas, the seasons are not nearly as dramatic as they were growing up in Connecticut. When it was winter, it was WINTER - cold, rainy, snowy and dark. When spring started to poke through - it really buoyed your spirits and made you even more anticipatory. I remember those first May evenings where you would catch a bit of warmth in the air. It was awesome. It was the "Promise of Summer." 

            Give yourself the gift of knowing that everything is seasonal.

            You're in an uninspired season right now? OK. That should not keep you from working but it will pass. You're in a season of little or no work? OK. That should not keep you from creating either.

            You're a living being on a living planet that is completely based on seasons. Things are born. Things die. Things get stronger while others wither. Sometimes it's rains and sometimes it's clear. You, too, have seasons and that's ok.

            In an abundant season? Relish it. Write about it. Remember it – so when it passes, you know It will re-“turn” – turn, turn.

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USE SOMEONE ELSE'S MAP

(This is an excerpt from a book I am working on about Being Creative for a Living. I will post a new chapter every Friday - or as close as I can. this chapter gets sent out from Santa Fe, NM as I wrap a 2.5 week family vacation. The sky looks just like this picture. I love this town. I hope to put on a Jackopierce Destination Show here next summer.)

Until you find your own way.

You used your parents' map of how to walk and talk. You used your older brothers and sisters' maps. You've used authors/speakers/coaches/mentors' maps to get you here.

            I used The Beatles, Bob Marley, James Taylor, Tom Petty and hundreds of other songwriters' maps to learn how to write songs.

            I used Sting, Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, Bono's and a lot of other performing artists' maps to learn how to perform in front of a crowd.

            When I was really young, my sister and I used to perform songs from Chorus Line, Annie, Oliver and others. We'd drag my parents down to the basement. We'd have costumes and all.

            The band, Vertical Horizon, used our map for a while. We loved them and took them everywhere we could as our opening act. They picked up a bunch of the stuff we were doing. They followed up with a lot of the venues where they were opening.

            We would study the schedules of bands that were playing where we wanted to play: Widsepread Panic, Samples, Blues Traveler and countless others. I just did it the other day with Katie Herzig's schedule. I was checking to see if she would be in town to write while I was in Nashville. While I was on her site, I saw a bunch of dates/venues listed that caught my eye. I sent a list to my manager and asked him to check them out.

            But sometimes nobody is doing what you're doing or what you want to do. Or they are doing it too differently or going after a different audience. You have to go out on your own and then be followed or become the next cautionary tale. You have to chart a new map.

            Until then, it's OK to use someone else's as a guide. We all do on our way to charting new ground for the next guy.

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GOOD FRIENDS ARE HARD TO FIND

Take good care of them. You will need them. Work on relationships - they take work.

I have good friends that held me accountable to write this book. They hold me accountable in my marriage, in my career, as a husband and a dad.

            They also inspire me and challenge me. They give me perspective and insight. They see strengths and weaknesses that I don't see.

            When I wrote this, I was in Nashville on a songwriting trip with 2 of my friends (Jon Abel and Patrick Ryan Clark) from Dallas. We shared hotel rooms. We had a blast.

            We're all Dads - with 8 kids between us - and we were laughing so hard at the Wendy's late-night drive thru, you'd think we were all 16.

            I meet with Jon Abel and Creede Williams almost every Friday morning at 6:30am. Regular, scheduled time with these guys is crucial for me a Creative, as a husband and as a dad.

            They know me and know what's going on now.

            It's no wonder that there are so many groups of Creatives that get together in groups around the world on a regular basis.

            An old proverb says, "Iron sharpens iron." We all need to be sharpened. I need it regularly and consistently.