Hello again;
I’m trying to write a post that will share my own accomplishments in a way that will help you achieve those goals that have alluded you.
This isn’t easy because for so many years I have been one of those people who believes that waiting for a specific day is not the answer.
I’ve talked with podcast hosts about how I’d rather work throughout the year to have something to celebrate than to wait until the ball drops to start that new journey.
I’ve written often about taking action today instead of waiting until tomorrow, next week, next month, or that mythical day of someday that never comes.
And I firmly believe that the only perfect time is the time we feel in our hearts and minds.
So, writing this time of year my goal is to try to share something that will help you keep going when you hit that wall that most people run into about the third week of January.
Maybe sharing my journey concerning how I feel about my voice and my singing ability might be the best way to share my thoughts.
In 2015 I wrote a post called Why I Sing, and How I Can Help You Free the Song in Your Own Heart.
I chronicled how I overcame the fear of singing in public out of the necessity to have an intro for videos I was recording for my amusement equipment brokering site www.midwaymarketplace.com
I talked about how people had made fun of me as my voice was changing in junior high school.. And that those feelings were aggravated by the loss of confidence from also losing a big chunk of my vision at about the same time.
And how the more I sang the more people that were impressed by my singing and the more who asked me to sing even more.
That lead to recording myself singing full-length songs and posting them to youtube.
Then in April of 2017 I was invited to take part in a family night at my church. The rehearsals didn’t go well, and I thought about saying no.
But we finally found three others for me to sing with, and we did a credible job of I wonder Why.
You can read more about that experience and watch the video by reading What I Learned From a Successful Church Talent Show Appearance.
In spite of a problem with some microphones that disappeared and then reappeared half-way through our song it was a great night. And it probably gave me the confidence to want to sing more.
Later that spring I traveled to Philadelphia to give my first public talk at an event called Dreamcon.
After the event was over I was emboldened to ask if I could sing in front of the event banner. The other speakers were taking selfies and group photos and I thought what the heck.
I was overcome with emotion while doing that. And one of the other speakers, Azuka Zuke,
was so impressed that he challenged me to make singing part of all my future public speaking events.
If you want to hear more about that experience or watch the video, then you can read The Blind Blogger Is Profoundly Effected By Singing the River at End of Dreamcon.
Later on during that first speaking adventure I would also sing at Niagara Falls and record some sample versions of a future talk titled Music and Motivation.
Music and Motivation is one of those crazy ideas that became a reality in 2020.
The idea is that I would sing some songs, tell some stories, and teach some life lessons.
You can watch the full presentation here.
Or listen to it on one of the podcast players listed below.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:13:08 — 67.0MB) | Embed
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The first virtual presentation went well, but we did learn some valuable lessons.
We heard from the audience that online talks should be shorter. So, when I do the second one of these in 2020, I’m going to keep the messages much shorter. Striving for keeping them under ten minutes each. I’m also going to try only singing one verse of each song instead of singing whole songs.
I should mention that this wouldn’t have happened without my friend and producer Trent Bray host of the Hustle The Day Podcast.
It was after appearing on his show,
when he offered to help me with this dream.
He had never heard about it, but he could tell during our show that doing more with my singing was something I really wanted to do.
He asked me about that after the show. We had a great conversation, and he volunteered to help me navigate the difficulties of producing a live streaming event.
We met and tested out the website. And we recorded a short sample of what people could expect.
Then we had another rehearsal with a test audience in advance of going live. We incorporated those suggestions and actually repurposed the question and answer session from the trial run.
Trent helped with the planning and promotion of the concert for lack of a better description of what Music and Motivation is.
And I thought it went really well. We only had ten people watch it live, but we had over five hundred watch it on their own terms.
He also broke the full show up into three smaller parts to make it easier for people to watch or listen and then be inspired by.
He also helped me understand just how much I still fear singing in public. And he helped me communicate that better to potential viewers.
We have become friends. I am now also looking forward to performing this show in person once the corona virus permits. And maybe one of you has a venue in mind for that very first event.
More people have continued to tell me how good my voice is and how inspiring it is knowing that it still scares me. Because most courageous people are scared. They just decide to do it anyway.
I may never think of myself as a great singer. I will probably never be able to admit that I’m as good as many of you think I am. But I understand my value.
By combining my ability as a story teller with my honest sharing of my life experiences with my singing; I have the ability to change lives.
Even more people will have to ask themselves if Max can do it then what’s my excuse.
Now, I have taken this one step further. I have created a Youtube play list where you can watch or listen to all my videos. And if you subscribe to it, you will hear when I have posted new music.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLecYBhne-msOZozYP6_TwG_c2r-_B02k8
I hope you will sign up and or share with your friends.
It’s a mix of older country and pop music. I sing acapella without backing tracks. It’s just me which I’ve been told makes it even more encouraging.
If you have read this whole post, you can see that going from being frightened to sing in public to planning to perform a presentation called music and motivation live online and eventually in person took over five years.
And you should notice that I didn’t do it all by myself.
I had a lot of help. From people like Azuka, Trent, Cassy from church, and others.
Many of you supported and encouraged me by listening to me sing and telling me how good I was.
I prayed about this crazy idea and asked a lot of people to help make it happen before Trent came along.
There were many times that I thought it was going to happen, and then for one reason or another the opportunity fell through.
That wasn’t a reflection on me or on the people I was working with at those times.
It just wasn’t the right person or the right time yet.
As I start this new year I wonder what new challenges and opportunities are in my future.
Will I be growing myself even more virtually, or will I be traveling the world.
Who will come into my life? And whose lives will I impact.
What new clients will I have the honor of helping tell their stories. What new shows will I appear on and will I make another best friend.
I’m not thinking about all the things that didn’t work out. I’m not seeing setbacks as proof I am a failure. I’m pushing forward knowing that all these small steps will lead to that next big leap.
Hope you are looking back today and seeing the things that you did well or that went right. Hoping you are looking back farther than just this year. And hope you are seeing 2020 as a beginning of your journey and not a deadline requiring completion by this time next year or sooner to consider yourself successful.
There is value in the effort. Every time we fall short, we get closer to the goal. We learn new ways of doing things. And we find new people to help us.
I’m always here doing my best to encourage y’all.
Looking forward to hearing about the successes you have had during the last year, two years, five years, etc. And more importantly I can’t wait to hear your progress throughout the next year and beyond.
Thanks for your part in my journey. Knowing you are out there watching and paying attention really helps. Knowing that I might disappoint you is a great motivator for me. It helps me to continue to show up every day and work my butt off. 🙂
Until next time take care out there, Max