“I find strength in MUSIC – those that work on something that they are passionate about will understand where this is coming from…”
When I started on this journey I had no idea of what I was truly in for – this concept of Entrepreneurship is something that I studied in graduate school at one of the most premier institutions in the world – THE WHARTON SCHOOL… However, little did I know that what I learned in the classroom would not truly prepare me for this journey. There is definitely a difference between book knowledge and real world practice. I will admit the instruction and training I received did help mentally with planning out my goals and what the perceived end state should look like. The part between the start and the “finish” – the journey is something that you have to first-hand experience and cannot be “learned” in a book or the bubble of a classroom.
“Long Days and Short Weeks”
My days start out very early in the morning and usually last until the wee hours of the night. Throughout the day – I go through a range of emotions that are sparked by success, failures, hunger and pain. The one thing that keeps me calm or brings me back to focus is MUSIC. The sounds of the beat of certain songs — that I call my “go to songs” take me to a place of calm. Sometimes when it is a song that makes me think about a moment of time in my past, I stop and start singing or rapping with the song. For some reason it helps me refocus or realign my sights.
There is no particular genre that I prefer to listen to – but the song I was listening to in the picture above was Beanie Sigel “I Can Feel It in the Air”. At that moment I was in a zone – I was feeling a break through coming – I was feeling like I was making progress when I was stagnate for so long. It was perfect timing. I was sitting in front of my iPad typing away notes about the project I was reviewing – the sun was starting to come up – so imagine the in between time of the darkness and sunrise of dawn. Coffee nice and hot – feeling like I am the only one up in the world and I am in a zone starting to make progress and then this song comes on and it takes me further in a zone. It starts with horns and then chorus comes in – “I Can Feel It in the Air”. The voice of the woman singing touches me and makes me close my eyes and then the bass comes in and then I get tunnel vision.
“My Spidey Senses are Tingling”
After looking at a screen for a long period of time or reviewing a document for days – frustration tends to set in and I get to a point where I need “fresh air” and that is what music does for me. It provides me a sense of fresh air – it allows me to shift my thinking – it allows the opportunity to think creative about business solutions. As a person, a creative thinker who is developing a company – those long days that creep into nights are filled with the unexpected. It gets hard to focus on one thing at a time long enough for real progress during the day. No two minutes are the same. It gets very easy to get lost in chaos.
The journey of Entrepreneurship is a wake up call – it is a journey that will take you through a range of emotions and changes in life that you would never imagine while challenging your reason why you want to be an entrepreneur. I find that MUSIC is something that brings me motivation, focus and perspective. The songs I play are the soundtrack of my journey. You need to have that “certain something” that can help you refocus – whether its a place you like to go, a book you like to read or a movie that allows you to say, “LET’S GO – LET’S MAKE THIS HAPPEN”!
