By Mark Stoddard, author of Marketing Singers, a business and marketing guidebook written specifically for singers.
Many books have been published on the many studies on the lives of successful people. Let me boil it down for you in “Why Winners Win.”
First, the Myths.
Money, Family, Luck, Race. These things are neither a plus nor a minus. Romney, Churchill, Obama and Kennedy had money, family or family connections, luck, etc. Those without them or the perception in common parlance have been wildly successful like Gates, Justice Thomas, Carnegie and on and on.
Education. Madame CJ Walker had a minimal education and became the first American of African descent to be a millionaire and loved to say, “I’d rather be able to say ‘Ah is rich than I am poor.” She also said, “It’s not so much what you know that will hurt you but what you know that just ain’t so.” Having degrees can mess you up success wise. Too often it confuses you with what matters and gets you thinking you actually know something. Many worship degrees and forget about learning and wisdom. My father correctly told me when I left for college, “don’t let college interfere with your learning.”
Work Experience. Many have lots of years on the job but in truth have a few months of job experience and years of repetition. Changing jobs used to be seen as a bad thing but that has changed. Five years on a job is longevity. Time to move on and grow.
So why do Winners Win? Here are 4 keys.
- Confidence Born From Accomplishments. That differs from the nonsense we see so much of kids getting awards for showing up. Kids need to lose and learn what that means. Failing doesn’t mean failure, just a set back and a chance to grow. Singers are some of the best at failing because they know there is only one person who gets that particular role. If that wasn’t you, it’s on to the next audition. We learn and grow, perform and grow.
- Knowing Luck Matters. Being in the Right Place at the Right Time. Timing is Everything. All of this comes through persistence but we have to have the patience to allow these things to happen. We can’t guarantee success. We can only be worthy of it. We can only be prepared so that when our time comes we’re ready.
- Never stop learning and love the process. Never stop having faith in life and never stop loving this process and the people we meet along the way.
- Smiling with Eternal Optimism. Tomorrow will be another worthwhile day because you will make it that way with the people you love and who love you. Those family and friends matter most and how you treat them and how you decide life is going to be will make everything the winning combination. Winners win because they know what winning is.
Mark Stoddard, author of Marketings Singers, is a business leader, professor, marketer and consultant who has been helping singers get jobs for more than 20 years. On the singing front he staged more than 100 professional shows aboard cruise ships that employed classical singers, pianists and strings. He’s also coached singers on how to sell their CDs and other products, use the social media and how to negotiate contracts. Email Mark at mark@mjstoddard.com.
