A MESSAGE FOR MUSIC ARTISTS

We Are Shaped by What We Suffer

As a music artist, your journey is rarely a straight line. Success in the music industry is a winding path, filled with highs and lows, unexpected turns, and sometimes overwhelming obstacles. However, these very challenges serve to shape your art, your resilience, and ultimately your authenticity. It’s like a sculptor chipping away at a block of marble—each struggle, failure, or hardship refines you and brings you closer to your true form.

Adversity is not just a barrier; it’s a tool for growth. Bob Marley once said, “You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice.” Every rejection, creative block, and personal hardship you face enriches your experience and deepens the authenticity of your music. It is through struggle that you uncover new layers of emotion and creativity, and those discoveries are often the foundation of your most powerful work.

Setbacks Are Setups

When you encounter setbacks, they may feel like detours, but they are often setups for growth. Each moment of frustration or failure is an opportunity for self-awareness and inner strength. As an artist, your path is not just shaped by your successes but by how you rise from adversity. Consider the words of Helen Keller, who faced immense challenges and yet declared, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”

Music artists, more than many, understand the weight of creative struggles. The pressure to perform, the uncertainty of the industry, and even personal issues can feel insurmountable at times. Yet, it is through facing these difficulties that you build resilience and depth. The more you push through, the more you cultivate the skills that turn setbacks into setups for your future success.

Growth Through the Fire

Like a piece of metal placed into a fire to be forged, adversity molds you. The heat and pressure of the fire—symbolic of life’s hardships—are necessary to shape something as resilient and remarkable as you. Just as Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to the summit of Mount Everest, had to endure failure before reaching the top, you too will find that growth often follows disappointment. After failing in his first attempt, Hillary famously said to a photo of the mountain, “Mount Everest, you beat me the first time, but I’ll beat you the next time because you’ve grown all you are going to grow… but I’m still growing!”

This mindset is crucial for artists. While obstacles may seem like they’re standing in your way, they are, in fact, growing you. Every challenge sharpens your skills, stretches your limits, and deepens your understanding of who you are as an artist. You continue to grow, and with that growth comes greater potential and more profound creativity.

Suffering as a Source of Authenticity

Your struggles also shape the authenticity of your music. Leonard Cohen beautifully expressed this truth: “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” The cracks, the imperfections, and the pain you endure don’t diminish your artistry—they enhance it. By embracing the vulnerability that comes from suffering, you allow your music to become a powerful, universal language that speaks to your listeners’ hearts.

This authenticity is what connects you with your audience. They see themselves in your story and your music becomes a source of comfort and inspiration. Your personal struggles are transformed into a shared human experience, allowing your audience to feel seen and understood. In this way, your suffering is not in vain; it is the very thing that gives your music its depth, its truth, and its soul.

The Inner Game of Suffering

In coaching, I look to identify the interference that hinders your potential. Interference often comes in the form of internal struggles—self-doubt, fear of failure, or feeling overwhelmed by the demands of the music industry. However, it is not the suffering itself that holds you back; it is how you respond to it.

If you allow these challenges to become obstacles, they will interfere with your potential. But if you see them as part of your journey, as tools for growth and refinement, then suffering no longer becomes an obstacle—it becomes a catalyst. This shift in mindset is key to unlocking your full potential as an artist.

Transforming Pain into Purpose

Maya Angelou once said, “We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.” It’s not about avoiding suffering; it’s about how you use it. Each hardship can either break you or make you stronger, and as you move forward, you begin to realize that your pain is part of your purpose. Johnny Cash wisely reflected, “You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone.”

The hardships you face are stepping stones toward your growth, your authenticity, and your ultimate success. They fuel your creativity, helping you create music that not only reflects your journey but resonates with others. Every scar, every struggle, every moment of doubt is a piece of the mosaic that forms your artistic legacy.

A Final Note

As you continue on your journey, remember this: your suffering does not define you, but it does shape you. It shapes the depth of your artistry, the authenticity of your message, and the strength of your resilience. Your music, born from the depths of your experiences, holds the potential to heal, inspire, and transform others.

Let your challenges be the fire that shapes you into the artist you are meant to be. And as you grow, remember—you are still growing.

As Maya Angelou reminds us, “I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.” So, too, can you turn your suffering into the fuel that propels you to new heights, both personally and creatively.