Hello again, I hope you and your family are doing as well as you possibly can.
And I hope this post and the accompanying video will encourage you.
I have written a second song called What’s Your Excuse?
I share some of my life’s accomplishments in a way that I hope will challenge people to overcome the excuses that are holding them back.
When you listen, please remember that I am not a professional singer, song writer, arranger, editor, or performer.
I’m a guy who does the best he can at the moment given the circumstances at that time.
This song has scared me more than most things I have done.
Read below if you want to learn more about the process and how I finally overcame my fear to share this with the world.
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It started in February of 2021. I fell in love with Better Together by Luke Combes. But I wasn’t crazy about some of the lyrics in his chorus. So I re-wrote them and recorded it.
After hearing that, a friend from church challenged me to write a song of my own.
That lead to my writing and recording If You Don’t Ask a song about asking for help based on an expression my dad used to use all the time.
That one came out in March of last year. At the time there were a few friends who encouraged me to write more music. And maybe record an album. lol
Then I got busy with the Holman Prize and the beginning of the WYE, What’s Your Excuse, podcast network.
I helped my friend Emily Trepanier launch her show Shredding For Gold.
Finally, my good friend Lorraine Reguly reminded me about my song writing during one of our fairly frequent calls.
She even got me started by suggesting that I do something around the What’s Your Excuse? line.
So many people have said if Max can do it, then what’s my excuse.
So, I took up the challenge and started the writing process.
The chorus was the easy part. The words and rhythm just came to me right away.
But that made coming up with the verses so much harder. Because in my mind that meant that the lines of words couldn’t have more than about nine syllables in them.
I finally came up with a couple of verses. I recorded myself singing them and then shared them to social media.
Addressing Criticism
There was a lot more critical feedback this time than there was with my first song. It was positive, but it still put me back on my heals a bit.
I did my best to incorporate as much of it as possible.
I re-examined all the lyrics to find words that could be eliminated or replaced with ones that better fit the melody.
I practiced singing the song while tapping my fingers or slapping my pants leg.
I tried to learn a bit about editing my audios using audacity, but I’m afraid I didn’t make such a great student. It might be easier for me to learn that software in person.
I listened to suggestions for more powerful lyrics. However, I chose to stick mostly with what I had as I had already started memorizing the original lines.
And I thought about ways to change up the tune so it isn’t so repetitive. But I just couldn’t figure that out.
Trust me, I know this song could be so much better in a technical or professional sense. And I’m open to working with someone to do just that. If and when I meet that person.
But I doubt it could be much better as an example of facing our fears, overcoming our excuses, and bravely putting ourselves and our work out there.
I finally had to remind myself what I have told aspiring podcasters in the past. That by putting our work out there we give our audience the opportunity to find something to love.
Why So Nervous?
In all honesty this song still makes me nervous.
Even more than releasing that first song.
And I think I have finally figured out why.
You see since I went online for the first time in 2007 and started selling amusement equipment on the Midway marketplace I have always done it first and asked for opinions later.
With this song my desire for it to be so much better than my first has had me sharing it with a lot more people.
The process has taken weeks instead of hours. And I find myself waiting impatiently for those emails from friends to tell me what they think.
The song is probably much better because of this process, but it was not natural to me.
Decision Process
Knowing Yourself
The first step was knowing who Max is.
I mean that I know I am not going to make music my profession.
For me music, comedy, and story telling are part of my draw as a coach, speaker, and podcaster.
They help me connect with people and share important messages in ways the audience can better understand and more easily adopt.
Knowing this meant releasing a song that is pretty good would be much easier than it would be for one of my friends who is a professional musician.
Having Personal Goals
When a professional musician releases a song, their goal is centered around plays, listens, downloads, and sales.
When I release a new song I am focused on inspiring and challenging the people who hear it.
Yes, I want as many people as possible to hear my songs because they can’t be inspired by me if they never hear me.
But the number of people who hear it isn’t my primary motivation.
For me the more important part is how many people are moved to understanding or action after hearing.
And one of the best ways I inspire people is by not letting the desire for the great keep me from sharing the really good.
Also, by sharing my song as is I may actually attract that right person to help me make it better.
Past Happy Accidents
In the past I have made a lot of mistakes. And for the most part the people I wanted to reach found something they wanted or needed in those mistakes.
Like that first blog post titled I Think I’m Ready to be An Inspiration. Where I mixed up a train photo and my headshot.
Most people thought I was going for a Little Engine That Could reference.
Or how about when I recorded my first video not knowing the lights were off.
Most people thought it was a metaphor for my being a blind man who was going to lead them out of the darkness.
Most people will find the good in your work if you give them the opportunity to do so.
Fear Effecting Other Work
Another factor in my final decision was how I have been feeling.
I have been dealing with a lot of fatigue lately. I am physically pretty healthy. I actually had a check up just to be sure.
But I have had to force myself more often to do the work that people are relying on me to do.
I thought about what if anything in my personal or professional life might be causing these feelings of tiredness.
This regular self-evaluation is critical to the success of all entrepreneurs.
Last year I discovered a less than ideal work project was dragging me down. Things improved when I withdrew from the assignment.
This time the only thing I could come up with was my refusal to go ahead and share my song with the world.
Hopefully I am on the right track here.
It wouldn’t be the first time that fear showed up as a lack of energy or a feeling of not having enough time.
Being True To Myself
What finally helped me decide was to listen to the words in my song.
To think about the things I have accomplished and how I did so.
While I have had a lot of help and encouragement along the way, I always started where I was.
I would learn from the experience and get better along the way.
It has worked for me so far. What I see as necessity others see as fearlessness.
And that willingness to share my work even when I know it could be a little better is a big part of my attraction.
Ryan Biddulph likes to call me Marvel’s Dare Devil of the online world.
Friends who do sing professionally have commented on how I will sing acapella and live during podcast interviews.
And that first website that people complained about helped me sell rides on five continents.
I would never purposely put bad work out into the world, but I’m not going to wonder what if I had just shared either.
So, when given a choice, I am almost always going to choose to publish.
Even though it makes me nervous.
Especially because it makes me nervous.
Let’s not forget that even now I am nervous about singing in public. That fear will always be with me. But I do it anyway so people can see me walk my talk.
Sharing Is Caring
This is the place where I usually ask you to share my post with your community. And I definitely want you to do that, but I also want you to share with me.
I want to hear what you think of the song. I hope you enjoy it and get something good out of it. But feel free to say I should have waited to make it better if that is how you feel.
Also, I want to hear something you have done in your life that was challenging, scary, or both. I want to hear what lessons you believe people could take from your experiences.
And maybe, just maybe, you will offer some of your own lyrics to this song.
It would be so cool if one of you took the What’s Your Excuse song and made it. your own sharing back with me.
I do want you to know how much I appreciate your support. Knowing that I disappoint you when I fail to post is sometimes the only thing that keeps me going.
And I know you could spend your time in a lot of other places both online and in person.
So thanks. I really appreciate you and look forward to your comments.
Stay safe out there, Max