I've got a story for you today.
It's about a handshake deal my friend Chris and I made.
But really, it's about the stories we all tell ourselves about why we don't share ourselves or our work publicly.
Put another way, it's about the personal demons I think we all face when it comes to putting ourselves and our creations out into the world.
Chris isn't a fan of social media. He feels like it's full of insincere, fake content.
But, as I explained to him (after he showed me his first attempt at making something):
“Yeah, but that’s exactly why sharing something so real, like you’ve already made here, has value.”
He's got real value to share, and a charming character to go with it. But he's hesitant to put his work out there, even though the people who'd connect with it most can't find it if it never leaves his hard drive.
He struggles with the idea of putting himself on video. And yet he's not that far away.
He just needs to take the first step.
And don't think I'm immune to this resistance. I've been procrastinating on making videos too.
My excuse has been that I'm setting up a new studio space. But I'm basically done, and that excuse is wearing a bit thin 😅.
So Chris and I made a handshake deal. We'd both push past our resistance, make a video, and post it.
Chris made his. (He hasn't posted it yet, but this first step of just making one was the important first step, and I'll be gently chasing him up on posting it or the next one)
And I made and posted mine:
Come check out my new studio
A few things I've been thinking about since:
Number one: the first step is the hardest, and you never know where it leads.
You're battling inertia, resistance, and whatever those little voices are telling you that day. But if you're making music and never letting anyone hear it, you're missing out on a lot.
I know this from experience. Years ago, I put a Push performance video online. It was very rough around the edges. The kind of thing I could easily have talked myself out of posting.
That video ended up getting me hired by Ableton as a product specialist.
I didn't post it expecting that. I just posted it. But that's the thing about sharing your work: you get feedback, you get better, and you increase your surface area for luck. Opportunities can't find you if nobody knows you exist.
Number two: making a deal with someone makes everything easier (and more fun).
I'm not sure I'd have posted my video this week without Chris. Knowing someone else is doing the scary thing alongside you changes it from a lonely battle into a shared adventure. And a bit of friendly accountability never hurt anyone.
Number three: the stories we tell ourselves are worth a conversation.
We all carry beliefs about why we shouldn't share. "It's not good enough." "Nobody wants to see this." "Social media is fake." Some of those might even be partly true.
But it's worth getting curious about them now and then. Are they all true? What would it feel like to push past them, just a little bit?
You might be surprised.
My Warmest Bleeps & Bloops,
Andri
p.s. Is there a track, a jam, or a Push performance you've been sitting on? Maybe this is your week. Find a friend, make a deal, and hit post. (And if you do, reply and send me the link. I'd love to see it.)
