Why musicians are actually ahead in the pandemic

Yes, I just said that. Yes, you read that right.

Musicians are actually ahead in the pandemic.

Before you run off with a plethora of reasons why I’m wrong, hear me out and let me tell you why.

If you are a successful musician, you have command of your mind and your emotional state at a level that most human beings will never attain.

I will say that again.

You have command of your mind and emotional state that most human beings will never attain.

There is a reason why being a classical musician is the second most stressful job behind being an air traffic controller.

Think about what you do for a second. If you’re a classical musician, you sit in an orchestra and play exposed solos. Solos that have an extremely specific way that they are supposed to be played and have been played that way for hundreds of years. So every single person will know if it’s correct of not, if it’s amazing or…. Less than amazing.

Not only do you do it in an orchestra, you do it in front of thousands of people. And those thousands of people, they’ll know if it’s correct or not too.

Let’s back up though. Before you even get to the orchestra, you must take auditions. And not just take auditions, take them and win them. Think about that for a second.

You prepare short excerpts of the most famous and challenging passages for your instrument. Then, if you pass the resume round, you go play them alone and exposed in an empty hall for some of the best musicians in the world.

All of this takes place behind a screen so they don’t see you and they don’t even know your name. You are a number. Whether you advance or not is based on tiny snippets, of usually 30 seconds or less. Your abilities and potential for any job are judged mostly on the first excerpt, of again 30 seconds or less.

Let’s say you’re not a classical musician, maybe you’re a jazz musician. You literally create on the spot! You create melodies and improvise in real time, again in front of crowds of people. And don’t be fooled like I was in my classical training, there is dogma and structure in jazz too. There are accepted and not accepted ways of expressing the art-form that people can and do spot.

To be able to do any of these things successfully, musicians must be able to enter flow state on demand. You command yourself to a mental, emotional and physical state that allows you to play at your potential in these environments.

This is a skill that most people will never attain in their life. Most people would die to have this skillset and you already have it.

You are a world class habit builder. You are a world class skill builder.

I once had a teacher say to me, “You must be able to play this falling out of a plane. If you can’t, there’s no point in going to the audition.” Albeit a bit jarring to hear at the time, he was right.

In order to perform in these environments, you must have amazing habits and skills. It is required that you are world class experts on skill building.

You create a bedrock of habits that are always there for you that are unconscious. You play scales and passages flawlessly without thinking about them. How? You made it that way.

You understand work ethic, quality repetitions and the immense value of habits and how they will either make or break you. You know these things and you actually follow through in creating them.

You know that what shows up in auditions and performances is not you rising to the occasion, it’s the exposure of the level of your habits.

Because you build tried and true habits and skills that are unconscious, you allow yourself to create amazing art. You’re able to be in the art-form in real time because your habits and skills you have made grant this.

You are a world class habit builder and world class skill builder because it’s required of you to access the magic.

This is a skillset that can be copied and pasted into every other part of your life. This is a skillset that can be used to build your business in the virtual era. This is a skillset that people in other professions just don’t have. They don’t have it like you do.

You thrive in discomfort.

As a musician, discomfort is not your problem. You actually thrive in discomfort. Discomfort is actually your biggest strength.

Being a musician literally means you put yourself into stressful situations every single day. And is these stressful, high intensity situations, you must perform well.

You put your mind, body and heart into fight or flight state on a regular basis and have mastered how to access your genius in this state.

You command your mind, your body and your emotional state to a place where you flourish in these situations. And you do this over and over and over, on repeat.

You actually have been training for the pandemic your whole life. You know how to thrive in discomfort and not only do you know how, you’re good at this.

This is a level of mastery that most people will never know. You excel in intense high stress environments. You are adept at courage over comfort.

Discomfort is YOUR JAM. The pandemic is YOUR JAM.

Again, the vast majority of people do not have this skill at all. Most people have vocations that are not based in constant discomfort with salaries and desks and a clear track of raises and pensions over the years.

These people watch you go out and risk it all and they want to be you, they want to be able to do what you do. Most people would die to be able to thrive in discomfort like you do, especially in the pandemic. For many people, this is the first time they have ever faced real discomfort.

You possess all the tools within you to prosper right now not despite the pandemic, but because of it.

Many of you may be thinking, ok Adrienne, this all sounds amazing, but why do I feel so powerless? Why do I feel so money-less? Why AM I so money-less? Why are all the musicians around me struggling? If I’m so amazing, why am I struggling so much?

Yes. This is big reality right now. And I’m a big fan of acknowledging reality.

At the same time, it doesn't need to be this way. So let’s dive right in.

I’ve noticed two major road blocks for musicians during this time that are no fault of your own.

Roadblock #1 - You don’t realize your skillset and power.

As musicians, we are almost brainwashed to not see how powerful we are. Being immersed in the culture, we think, everyone does this. Everyone knows how to do this. This is just what I do.

No no, my friend! You are so unique and powerful. You literally wield your mind and craft at the highest level in high stress situations. At a world class level.

Our constant seeking of higher performance and constructive criticism blocks us from seeing our powerful skillsets.

These skillsets can and should be copied and pasted into all parts of life. As I have stressed throughout, other people don’t have these skills like you do. Full stop.

As someone who has had one foot in the music world and one foot out of the music world for the past five years, I can tell you that all of my success in other areas of life is linked back to these powers that I learned in music.

I didn’t realize how rare and valuable my skillset is until I left music school after 24 years of immersion in the culture.

You take auditions. You play concerts. You create income out of thin air. You have command of your mind. You thrive in discomfort. You do hard things at a world class level every single day.

So don’t tell me you’re not powerful.

You’re powerful BEYOND MEASURE.

Musicians can be like fish. Fish don’t realize they’re wet because they’ve lived in water their whole lives. Musicians don’t realize their unique power because they’ve been immersed in the culture for so long.

This is not your fault. Culture has been designed so you can't see your own strengths. At the same time, I’m here to shake you up and wake you up.

I’m here to tell you, you are so powerful.

You’re so powerful that upon realizing it, it might even scare you how much you can and will do.

Ride that wave.

Roadblock #2: You have command of your mind, but in a mean way.

The shadow side of having insanely high level command of your mind, is that you can get really high level at things that hurt you. You can get really high level at believing things that aren’t true.

Most musicians command their minds using un-loving and un-true thoughts and beliefs. This creates a loop of low self worth, unhappiness, the feelings of scarcity, of powerlessness and ultimately blocks them from taking action.

Wielding your mind in this way blocks your potential as a human and as a musician. It blocks your access to all of the amazing skills you possess. You may know you have a powerful skillset, but the way you’re commanding your mind doesn’t allow you to see it or use it, especially during the pandemic.

The BEAUTIFUL thing about this is you already have amazing command over your mind. You are already lightyears ahead of most humans on the planet!!

All you need is literally a quarter turn of a knob and you will soar, my friend.

Here is a greatest hit playing out there right now: “I can’t make money in the pandemic because I’m a musician.”

Here’s how to wield that mind of yours and put your command to good loving use:

“I can make loads of money in the pandemic because I’m a musician.”

You see what I did there?

You have all of the skills to THRIVE in the virtual era, grow your business and not sit back and wait for things to “go back”. You don't need to wait for a conductor to call you. You create your own career now.

As a musician you are not someone who sits back, you go out and seize the day, create opportunities and blossom in discomfort.

This is where I come in and this is why I became a mindfulness coach for musicians!

Forgetting your power is not uncommon and it's not your fault. Our culture has been designed to make you forget. But you don’t have to.

I am a coach to remind you all how amazing you are and help you stay in your power.

I’m here to support you in wielding your world class tools to create the life of happiness and prosperity that I know you want and that you deserve.

I support musicians in staying rooted in the truth of their power so they can act from this place every single day. This is what I do in my coaching, my teaching and honestly this is what I do for myself every single day!

I’m inviting you to stop giving your power away and instead step into it with boldness and brilliance. Everything needed to thrive in this pandemic is already in you, and I’m here to help you access that on the regular.

Next week I’m hosting a free three day training called Activate the Mindful Music Matrix. In this training I will expand on the world I have created for myself and my clients that allows us to access our greatness, especially in the pandemic! It will be specific tools, strategies and perspectives that you can apply to your life right now and will help you soar. I will be sharing how I do this on a continual basis with both individual musicians and groups of musicians.

If you're a musician and any of this resonated with you, register for the training! It’s free and will open a new door for you during this time. It’s next week on December 7th, 8th and 9th - live at 12pm CST. If you can’t come live, no sweat! Just be sure to register so you’ll have access to all of the amazing free content. If you can come live, I’m doing a fun giveaway for those that can attend all 3 days!

Definitely come. Click here to register.

What struck a chord with you as you read this? What made your head nod? What made you actually shake your head? Please comment or message me via my contact page and let me know! I would love to connect with you.

If you’re a musician, for sure register for the training. For those that don't like scrolling, here is the link again. 🙂 This is an awesome opportunity for a positive pivot and your only investment is your time (live or watching the replay).

And finally, think about a musician you love. Think about a musician you care about that may be struggling and could benefit from reading this. Forward this to them!

The positive ripple is so real, y’all.

I’m sending you into your day with all the love and power that already exists within you!

Cheers to your power and prosperity,

⭐️ Adrienne

P.S.  See you at the training. 😊