Words and Music

Good Tuesday morning to you. I hope this week brings some excitement in your self-growth journey. Seeing people actually make the changes in life, then start living at a level that they’d never even imagined in their minds is one of the greatest parts of my job.

Yesterday was the 30^th anniversary of MTV, something that totally changed music history. I waited until today’s post to bring it up because it fits into our subject today. How many times now when we think of a song from the ‘80s or ‘90s, do we think of the video that was made about it? How often do we associate a song with certain things? For instance, if I mention the Song “Old Time Rock And Roll,” what comes to your mind? For most of us it is Tom Cruise singing in his underwear in the movie Risky Business and that was used in the video version of the song. Well, the concept of music put together with video now gives you an image to focus on. Think of how powerful music can be in your life. Now let’s take it to a different level.

In the mid 1980s, a movie about a fictional band from the ‘60s came out called Eddie And The Cruisers . There is a famous line from that movie that was the basis for today’s blog, where the subject comes from. In the movie Eddie, the lead singer, talks with his piano man, telling him how one of them was a word man, the other was a music man. He then tells him, “Words and music. You need both and we need each other.”

So how does this relate to our theme this week? Well just like MTV in the 1980s brought a new idea that allowed us to “see” the music we listened to, it’s time for you to see the goals you want to achieve. In this life you will go through tough times; if you are like me you may even face times of health issues and having to start over. Well to get through them you need to see with your eyes of faith; you need to see yourself achieving those goals that you have set.

You see, to achieve RockStar goals, you have to have rather large faith. If you find yourself lacking confidence, you will have to raise that up a bit. To do that, you have to change the music you are marching to. And too do that, you must change the words you are listening to, the words you are saying. Yes, this is back to the basics. It was said by a very wise man many, many years ago, “Man shall live by the words that come out of his mouth.” Change your words and you will change your future.

On a daily basis I have heard more people say the words “I am a failure. I’m good for nothing. I will never succeed at this.” They even say words like “Life sucks and then you die.” Well, as we are focusing on getting back to the basics of personal growth, we need to make changes to our basic daily habits. One of my favorite books, which really is back to the basics, is “The Game of Life and How to Play It .” It was written by Florence Scovel Shinn. The book was written in 1925 and talks about the things we need to change in order to play this game called life. In her second book, she talks about the concept that your word is your wand and focuses on how to use affirmations to change your thinking.

So take your RockStar goals and write them down. I have used this exercise at many of my speaking events. Use a simple 3×5 card that is blank on one side and has 10 lines on the other side. Write your big goal on the blank side. Then on the other side, write 10 steps for reaching that goal or 10 affirmations to help you see yourself achieving that goal and read that card to yourself seven times during the day. Now comes the fun part. Each day, make a new card with a new goal. As you get to the point you see one of the goals being achieved in your life so you now own it, take that card out of the stack and add a new one. Write a new card daily for the first 30 days.

After the 30 days you now have a new habit of working this card system with your goals. From that point you only have to write a new card once per week, but you still read them three to seven times per day. At the end of a year, you may accomplish a large goal on the card, you may even reach five or ten large goals. After a year of doing this, most people find they feel stronger, more confident-self. As a result, they then write even larger goals the second year and start accomplishing them faster.

This is a small way to start changing your words thus making new music with your life. I know this may sound cheesy, but I dare you to try it and see if it works. Come back tomorrow when we talk about the rollercoaster ride of life.

I’m Tim Gillette, the Rocker Life Coach. It’s time for you to live the life you always wanted, to love what you do and those you share life with. Let us help you become a RockStar in your world