Eating a greasy cheeseburger once a month doesn’t make you fat. Eating a salad once a month doesn’t make you skinny. And sitting down to write once a month doesn’t make you a pro songwriter.
It’s not what you do every once in a while that defines what you are (serial killers excluded). It’s what you do REPEATEDLY that defines what you are. Olympic athletes don’t just train every now and then. Their training is a habit, a discipline. It’s part of their lifestyle.
Now, I’m not saying you should be writing as much as a lot of pros do. Realistically, most of us can’t write from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. Or even 3 or 4 nights a week. We have jobs, we have families, and we need to keep them. I get that. Heck, I live that!
But is your lifestyle saying the same thing as your mouth? If your mouth says you want to be a pro songwriter, but your lifestyle says you want to watch TV 28 out of 30 nights a month, there’s a problem. There’s a disconnect that’s going to keep you from connecting to your dreams.
If you say you want to lose 20 pounds, but your diet (how you eat on a regular basis) is full of pizza, soft drinks, potato chips with only the occasional salad… you’re never going to lose that weight.
Likewise, if you say you want to be a pro (or great) songwriter, but your “diet” consists of not-writing and lazy-writing with only occasional serious-writing, you’re not going to turn pro.
Again, I have grace for you if you’re in a season of life that just doesn’t allow consistent writing time. Give yourself some grace, too. Lord willing, this season will pass and you’ll have more time later.
But if you DO have time to write, but you’re NOT writing… consider this your well-deserved kick in the britches.
What about you? What is the “junk food” that you struggle with? Is it TV time? Partying? Sports? Leave a comment- I’d love to hear from you!
Pro songwriters know they need to have a pro songwriter’s diet of consistent, intentional songwriting. And if YOU want to become a pro, you need to think like a pro, too. In my FREE e-book, “THINK LIKE A PRO SONGWRITER,” I not only reveal several of the mindsets which separate the pro songwriter from the amateur, but also…
- How to get on a music publisher’s radar
- How the pros know who is looking for songs
- Six simple ways to make your songs more commercial
- And more!
To get your FREE, INSTANT download of “THINK LIKE A PRO SONGWRITER,” just click on the image below, or CLICK HERE!
God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,
Brent
Brent Baxter is a hit songwriter with cuts by Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Lady Antebellum, Joe Nichols, Gord Bamford, Ruthie Collins, Ray Stevens, and more. He’s written a top 5 hit in the US and a #1 in Canada… so far.
