Patience.
Take your time.
Patience – Musical success doesn’t happen overnight. In our day and age, so many people live under the impression that finding the “dream job” will happen out of nowhere. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve heard (and even said) the phrase “We just need to get discovered.” Oh, the youthful dream of being magically scooped up into the loving arms of the music industry, and never having to worry about paying bills ever again… sorry, but that just doesn’t happen. Success stories are often long and difficult. For many music legends, success came with years of eating Ramen noodles and living in their car under a bridge in Los Angeles before they could afford an apartment. Realistically, having a music career means accepting a life without many luxury items. If you want to drive a Hummer and live in a nice penthouse with a view of the NYC skyline at night, maybe you should just play music as a hobby, not a career. Success is possible, but accept that it takes time. Many people give up and drop out of the race before they finish. Be one of the winners, one of the people who sticks with it for long enough, and it’ll start to happen. On a side note, it’s also vital to realize that success comes in different forms. To me, success means making a decent living by being a musician, in whichever way I can make that happen. Sure, I might never see my face on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, and I’m perfectly OK with that. Create your own definition for success, and start making choices that will help make it a reality. And most importantly, take your time.
Tyler Addison James 