Well, it was great to get so many opinions from you about the Axl Rose story that’s been going around. It is funny how I used that story as a talking point yesterday and the many responses I got are the reason I am choosing this story today. Most if not all of us know the band KISS. There is a popular A&E show that follows the story of bass guitarist, front man and leader of the group, Gene Simmons. The show is called Gene Simmons and the Family Jewels.
Gene is known as the promotion expert when it comes to rock music and his band. I use many of his statements because they are such an inspiration to my life and really ring true for me. Before we get into the story today, let’s talk about these two particular statements from Gene Simmons
1. Everyday above ground is a good day. Well, with an outlook like that you cannot have a bad day. We all have to realize that each day we have is a gift. Gene has realized that and lives it. While I have followed many of his theories in life, I think just a bit differently than he does. But I definitely believe you need to have an outlook that is just a little RockStar Crazy. Keep a great outlook like this and your and life will look great, too.
2. If you do not promote yourself, you will end up promoting someone else or their business – as in “Can I get you fries with that?” This is a great way to teach those who are in the arts that we need to have a promotion process to get our art, our name, and our products in front of those who want and need it. If you are not that focused on your success, you may end up at a job where all you are promoting is extras on the side – someone else’s business.
I tell people first to have a great outlook on life and your prospects for improving; we need to always improve our lives to become better. If you are looking at life like our first statement, you will see that no matter how bad you think your day is, you can still be thankful you are alive. So that is a crazy but great way to look at life.
The second statement showcases the nature of Gene Simmons and how he does nothing but talk about himself everywhere he goes. Yes, I too am always telling people how I help people, the ways that my programs work to help them. But beyond just promoting myself, I want to get promotions from others as it sells to more people than my self-promoting alone can do.
Now, as with the theme of our week, the idea of RockStar Crazy, most everyone that sees Gene thinks of him the way I do: as a shameless self-promoter. The truth is many of those people have the problem that they see in Gene: they have a favorite subject and it is themselves.
I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I chose the topic of Axl Rose and his rejection of the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame because so many read just a little bit and immediately formed their own opinions. The read the short posts about the subject on Axl Rose and commented on the questions about the post but they did not read the entire post because they were more focused on what they thought of Axl and less on the fact that others are doing the same things he is.
I am following up with today’s post to show how many of you are reading the Facebook or Twitter posts but not reading this blog to see how what I do is just as RockStar Crazy as what these stars are doing.
We all hate hypocrites, but bottom line, we are all hypocritical in some way or another. I wish you could see how I get upset about things like the homeless man who walks in day after day to ask for $5 in exchange for his cards and pens. But in some ways I am no different; I just build conversations to tell people about a workshop I want them to attend.
This week’s theme is to show that those RockStar Crazy things we see are often just put in the news to make controversy. We see it and start talking about it. Well this week’s theme is to get you to look inside and see we all have room to grow. I am in more need of personal growth than many of you. Every day, I see how I could easily say someone like Axl Rose made a dumb choice then I go out and make a dumb one myself. Or talk about how Gene Simmons makes the shameless self-promotions, then I start the same way when someone puts the question to me on a Radio or TV interview. Promoting is our business.
What are you going to learn this week to change your life? Will you use RockStar Crazy to build a better life for yourself? Will you learn that the finger you are pointing at that crazy RockStar has three more pointing back at you? I hope you learn, like I do each day, that there is always room to grow.
I’m Tim Gillette, the Rocker Life Coach. It’s time to live your dream, to love what you do and those you share life with. Learn to use what you read to take an internal look at yourself, and become the RockStar who takes the high road.
