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When I was fresh out of high school, I was having a discussion with my brother-in-law about my career.

He worked a 7–3:30 job at the time making a pretty standard just above minimum wage wage. After hearing my basic strategy for success in the music business, he asked, “What’s your backup plan?”

The all-knowing eighteen-year-old me was like, huh?

Oh…I get it, I said that I was going to be a musician and since that’s not something that you see as normally being “lucrative,” you think I should have a backup plan that includes a job like yours.

Yeah, no thanks.

The sh*tty thing about backup plans is that they’re not even a safety net. A safety net would be money saved up beforehand, or being able to sleep on your friend’s couch, or moving back in with your parents while you spend every waking moment striving toward whatever will bring that thing that you love full circle to legitimacy.

A backup plan is a replacement for what you originally intended to do.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for working whatever mundane job you have to so that you can save up a little money before taking a deep breath and going all in on your passion. Unless what you’re about to dive into pays you dividends out of the gate, that’s just common sense.

Being hungry, sometimes both literally and figuratively, is absolutely necessary to do what YOU want to do.

Side hustles are great, I’m not talking about them. I’m talking about your dream job. Not going all in and working some life-sucking day gig that makes you look and feel like your coffee mug because of the naysayers will leave you forever burdened with a defeat that will haunt you.

You know when people discuss what they regret in life? If you skipped out on your passion because someone else planted the element of doubt inside of you, you will regret it. You’ll be part of the college kid essay’s focus group of people with only moments left on this earth with that thing being in your list of “wish I hads.” There will be plenty of other bad choices to round out your top ten. Don’t let this be one of them.

This isn’t about making different decisions because of the curve balls that life throws at us all. It’s not about changing your focus because one day you found something else that you were more passionate about. I’m talking about now. We all discover new life loves and that’s okay. Following what we love is what makes that possible.

No matter what anyone says, it’s not too late, you can do it, and you most certainly deserve it. Pay attention to those that feel this way about you and your dreams, and surround yourself with them every day.

Many of the people that I’ve worked with during my music career are pretty big in the business. Below is a write-up from one of my releases:

Sean’s EP, “Everything Has Past”, was produced by Steve Bertrand (The Tories, Avion) and features drummer Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, John Fogerty & more), bassist Chris Chaney (Jane’s Addiction, Alanis Morrisette), guitarist Sean Woolstenhulme (The Calling, Lifehouse) and keyboardist Scott Simons (LA-based Solo Artist). Added to the mix were Grammy Nominee & Juno Award winner James “Jimbo” Barton assisting with engineering & world-class Mastering Engineer Tom Baker (Precision Mastering). The EP contains a power-packed punch of fresh, new material that will fit perfectly into the collection of any fan of today’s new rock music. Bertrand states of the new release, “Snow Patrol meets Kings Of Leon……the best recorded version of Sean McCarthy to date.”

I’ve done a few things. I’ve also postponed a lot in my life. I’ve often chosen what I felt was more important at certain points of my life over my music career with zero regrets. I’ve lost sparks, fanned flames, and fallen victim to burnout. There are plenty of times when the squirrels of life have caught this dog’s attention and gotten me off course. I’m wiser for it. I now more quickly realign with my goals.

First-hand experience qualifies me to share this with you.

If you feel like you’re suffocating or all of your hopes and dreams are smoldering, there’s one single thing that will allow you to breathe and cause what’s smoking to ignite- fresh air.

Fresh air is waiting outside of your comfort zone. Fresh air is waiting around the corner where you can’t see it. It’s through that door that you’ve hesitated to open for whatever reason. Fresh air is right……there.

Go. Now. The world is waiting for you.

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I have a habit of looking around and noticing things.

As I sat in the restaurant, everything seemed to be where it belonged. Customers dining, getting up and making way for those next in line. The staff did their normal routine shift tasks making sure that tables were wiped and quickly set again.

Then…there it was.

Dust.

Yeah, another habit of mine in establishments like this, I look up.

It was clear that the focus was on the standard stuff; condiments, the nightly vacuuming, and the flatware. It seemed like a lot of time was spent on what people saw at eye level vs. what was clearly above them. The thick layer of what had now become grime, coated the ductwork and ceiling fans and was also clinging to the light bulbs themselves.

I knew the owner. He worked hard day after day focusing on putting out the best menu items for his loyal patrons and the food was pretty good, but not always great. I also knew that money wasn’t an issue, needing to be in control was.

With him being the chef and always being distracted by the service side of things, he missed some key things that people like me noticed in just a few short minutes.

He was always busy being the boss. The trouble was, for as great of a chef as he was, he sucked at making sure that all of the front-of-house duties were taken care of. Not only did that mean that what customers saw when they walked in was subpar, but the added responsibility of doing a half-assed job outside of the kitchen meant that his head wasn’t completely in the game being played where he was needed most.

I understand how hard it can be to take a step back and relinquish the reigns to something that I’ve built, especially if it’s my passion. Sometimes though, what we’re passionate about gets buried in the day-to-day responsibilities of making that thing a reality.

I’m just wagering a guess here, but if you’re a chef, chances are you enjoy cooking. If that’s the case, then fucking cook.

If you’re in charge, locate people who share your vision, and hire them. Put a team together who are as passionate about their role in your business as you are about the reason you started it all in the first place.

Wanna know a secret? There are people out there who absolutely love being front-of-house managers.

Do you have a large staff? Do you cook better than you supervise? Still staying late to wash the last of those dishes once the door sign has been flipped for the night? Hate bookkeeping and accounting?

See where I’m going here?

Presentation is everything. If you drive by a mansion, what’s the first thing you see? I’ll give you a hint- It’s the work of the gardener.

The dedication to the beauty outside lends a fairly good view of what’s inside. Even if we never open the doors, we’re pretty confident that what’s behind them is pretty dope, too. If you’re the chef, the inside of your mansion is the food that you prepare. If you’re always tending to the pretty flowers or trimming the hedges, is that food going to be the best it can be?

With the right people in place, it’s okay to let go of the responsibilities that are robbing you of what you enjoy doing most. Delegate.

Letting go a little isn’t a sign of weakness. Understanding what you do best and bringing in the right people to do the rest, usually much better than you can, is just the opposite. It’s a definition of strength.

If you already have staff but don’t have the confidence that they’re taking care of everything outside of the kitchen, find new staff.

Go on, hire the gardener. Not only will they take care of all of those things that you never went into business to do in the first place, but they’ll make sure that when the doors have opened, the dust has (been) cleared.

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