Congrats, and Now Move On

Last night millions of people watched as the Seattle Seahawks won Super Bowl LX over the New England Patriots.  I’m always amazed at how fast a parade happens to celebrate a World Series or Stanley Cup or NBA championship title.  I have no reason to doubt that that will be the case in the Pacific Northwest for the newest NFL champions.

For that matter, as I detailed in last Monday’s blog, last week Sunday night was the GRAMMY Award ceremony in Los Angeles that I attended but is now well in my rearview mirror as I get set to leave in less than 72 hours to go speak at the San Francisco Writers Conference.

Life moves pretty fast, as Matthew Broderick famously said in the movie, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”  One day you’re winning the Super Bowl.  The next day you’re starting to get ready for the NFL Draft, which, sorry Seattle and New England, is now just over ten weeks away.  In other words, congratulations on making it to the sport’s biggest game, but now it’s time to start thinking about next season and beyond for your franchise.

In music, an artist might perform at the best venue they’ve ever stepped on stage at, but once that show is over, it’s on to the next city.

This is not going to be a what have you done for me lately blog, but instead, this week I’m here to impress upon you the importance of keeping moving – forward.  The longer you sit still and bask in one accomplishment, the more you’ll miss out on something else.

After all, when a song reaches number one, sure you want to keep the momentum going as it relates to trying to keep that chart position, but don’t you want to try to duplicate that success?  Or maybe instead of writing you quickly decide, “Let’s get out on the road while people are really connecting with this song!”

I remember talking about this quite recently with a guest on my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast, that if your song becomes a hit, you’re gambling if you just decide to put your feet up and wait for the phone to ring, thinking that everyone is probably going to want to work with you now.  On the contrary.  You need to seize the momentum and get out there and keep working.

I know that it’s extremely exciting to finally graduate from college.  You have worked so hard and have been going to classes for 16 years at that point.  Your family is proud of you and, justifiably, your accomplishments should be celebrated.  But once the party is over and everyone has gone home, are you just going to stay in your cap and gown, seeing how long you can continue to bask in the thrill of being finished with school?

The go-getters had already started looking for a job in their field and many are starting in a position that they hope will be the start of their career.  The minute you say, “I’m going to take some time off” is when you lose the momentum you built, having culminated with walking across that stage to get your diploma.

Creators long for the day that they have something that goes viral.  When a TikTok really takes off, naturally it results in more followers.  Yes, the people who have engaged with that post like what you did.  But, when they hit that all important Follow button, it means they’re investing (time) in you as it relates to wanting to see what else you’re going to do.  Thus, you don’t sit around being excited about having hit a million views on one video.  You need to be in the trenches making more content so you can take advantage of the timing and get something else up right away.

Last month I spoke at Podfest Multimedia Expo in Orlando.  The room that I presented in was so packed that it became standing room only.  If I decided to ride the high from that, I would’ve missed out on going to the NAMM Show in Anaheim a few days later, and then Los Angeles (including the GRAMMYs), and who knows, maybe even passing up the aforementioned event later this week in northern California.

One week from tomorrow I will hit the twelve-year anniversary of “Now Hear This Entertainment.”  Having never missed an episode once since I launched the show on February 17, 2014, it would be ironic if the streak suddenly ended because I was celebrating the latest milestone and decided that I deserved to enjoy the accomplishment as long as I wanted to.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t take time to pat yourself on the back and be excited about your accomplishments.  Just don’t sit in them indefinitely.  Lots and lots of others around you who do what you do are busy pushing forward.  You should be doing the same.

Now a Member of the Recording Academy, I have been helping indie music artists, authors, actors, entrepreneurs, podcasters, filmmakers, small business owners, and more for over twenty years.  What challenges are you having in your creator career that I can lend some insight to?  Connect with me so you can take advantage of all my experience, and I can help and keep you moving forward.