We can only reap the fields we sow

Where am I in my life, right now? What exactly am I doing? Am I even doing this right?..or should I be doing this? Why does this matter? Is this good for me? Does my career fulfill me? These are the questions we SHOULD ask ourselves daily. These are questions that focus directly on the self, and what’s even more impactful about these questions is that we can directly influence their outcomes. Answering these questions empowers us. We choose what we actively do. We make decisions that we think are good for us and for our careers. But…is this really what we’re asking ourselves?

What are they doing? What’s going on over there? What are they playing? Are they auditioning for that? Who’s showing up to this contest? Can you believe what they did?! They did what?! Why can’t I do what they’re doing? They’re against me! It’s me against them! (My personal favorite is, “Who’s our judge? Do they like us?”.) More often than not, this is where I find our head space. Students focused on other students. Colleagues obsessed with what other colleagues are doing. Bands versus bands. Professional versus professional. Artist versus artist. Gossip. Rumors. Hyperboles. Slippery slopes. Assumptions…all to what benefit?

I recently re-read Robert Kiyosaki’s Best-Seller, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, a book I highly recommend to college students and young professionals. The book is broadly structured into financial “lessons” that Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad” taught him growing up, and I found this quote very applicable to this discussion - “Mind Your Own Business; The rich focus on their asset columns while everyone else focuses on their income statements.” At first glance, this seems like elementary school advice…mind your own business. We’ve ALL been told and no doubt have told others this many times in our lives, but let’s think a little deeper about what it really means.

“Mind your own business” at face value tells us to focus on ourselves rather than others, and it’s often someone’s defensive response in confrontations. But could there be profound wisdom in just simply minding our own business? Why is it important for us to mind our own business? The answer is simple. Our business, our brand, our lifestyle is the only aspect of our career that we can control. Let’s continue with Kiyosaki’s lesson, “the rich focus on asset[s].” Assets enhance our lives. Kiyosaki is referring to assets such as stocks, gold, and real estate…but what is an asset in YOUR life? In music education, that could mean finding a great new addition to your staff. That could mean discovering a new and effective strategy to instruct a concept. That could mean finding a new piece of restorative art for your portfolio, or finding an excellent photographer that knows how to capture the correct profile shot. By minding our own businesses and building our asset columns, we are actively enhancing our careers.

But wait! There’s more to this invaluable quote. Let’s focus on the latter half: “…while everyone else focuses on their income statements.” Yes, income is important, but why do we care so much about income? While I believe there should always be deep concern with paying bills, rent, the mortgage, cars, etc., etc… in MY experience, income is almost always used as a comparative. We equate income with another’s house size, their trips, their clothes, their cars; essentially materials. Materials and income are what we use to compare ourselves with society. How many trophies do you have? How many articles have you published? How many art pieces do you have displayed? How many clients do you have in your portfolio? Did you get the gig? How big is your studio? However vain and materialistic they may seem, there ARE merits to these questions! These questions keep us hungry and driven! But these questions are resultants. These questions don’t prompt ACTION. They do not answer the valuable questions I posed at the beginning of this post. They do not build our assets, they just count them! So, why do we waste our energy counting our assets? And even more of a waste of our energy, why do we count the assets of others?

So ask yourself: how do you build your assets? We must mind our business, simply because, our business is all that we can control. You can’t control what your competitors are doing. And for our amusement, let’s say that your rivals fall flat on their faces and fail miserably…then what? Your assets remain the same. The success and failures of others in no way impacts the success and failures of you. So, here’s my mantra for you:

Find your land. Sow your field. Plant your seeds. Care for your grove, through all of its obstacles. Not everyday will it rain. The sun will beat down on your grounds. You WILL lose many of those precious crops you worked so hard to plant. But, if you mind your own business and focus on your pastures…you will watch your arbor flourish right before your very eyes, and your harvest will be splendid. We can only reap the fields we sow.

Namaste,

The Cosmopolitan Artist