A short message about believing in yourself.

I’ve been into Personal Development for as long as I can remember.

As an young teen I would watch Tony Robbins very late at night on TV. His infomercial was kind of a joke, but it really wasn’t.

Or am I thinking of Don LaPre? The “Tiny Little Ad” guy.

Doesn’t matter.

Tony is an amazing human being. He will go down in history as one of the most influential people to ever live.

He taught me something that changed me forever…

There’s no better education than the education you give yourself.

Yes. You can get a degree.

Yes. You can get a job in a great company.

Yes. You can earn a great living.

But...

There’s no better education than personal education.

Most of the people I admire have educated themselves. A personal education, if you will.

They take it to the next level and create something, on their own, that will change their life forever.

What does this have to do with music production and why am I writing about it?

Simply put, everything.

Back in the day there were very few schools based around production.

Being mainly a producer and engineer the people I look up to are, for the most part, self taught.

The path was this:

• You were young. (I was 18)
• You started as a runner in a recording studio.
• You kept you remained quiet and observed. If you were lucky a veteran would take you under his wing and become your mentor.
• You worked your way up from runner to assistant, which took about a year.
• Then, finally, if someone moved on, or was hit by a bus, you got to sit in the big chair and make records.

After that the choice was your. Either continue to record or move up to mixing and/or producing.

It took a long time to get to that point.

To be the guy in charge.

To be the one an artist trusted with helping them create their masterpiece.

But it couldn’t happen unless you wanted to excel.

To be the best.

To never stop learning.

What’s that saying? “If you aren’t moving forward you’re falling behind.”

You have to grow in order to succeed. You have to develop. Personally develop. And there’s no better way to do that than to do it for yourself.

To believe in yourself so much that you have no choice but to grow.

To live the life you want to live. Not the life society tells you to live.

I was fortunate to have amazing parents who never told me...

“If you want to do music also study accounting so you have something to fall back on.”

They instilled in me that you can do anything you want to do.

Their motto was focus on your goal, work hard and you’ll achieve it.

How to get to where you want to be the modern way.

Personal growth with the help of some of the greatest minds on earth is practically free now.

Go to Youtube and search for personal development. Or Tony Robbins. Or Jim Rohn. Or Jack Canfield. Or Seth Godin. Or anyone you admire. They’re all there. Waiting to give you any advice you need to grow into the person you want to be.

I also suggest that you create a Personal Development playlist and add your favorite videos. Then watch them over and over again to fully grasp the meaning.

I read somewhere that it takes hearing something seven times before you fully understand the message.

Oprah gets it.

Why did I title this “Oprah gets it”?

Well, her Super Soul Sunday program was the inspiration for this creation.

A few weeks ago I spent close to four hours watching this show. First because of an author of a book I recently read. Then looking through on-demand I noticed some recognizable names of people I am truly fascinated with.

Most of the people I mention above have been on her show. Along with many others so I highly recommend you check it out.

If you don’t get the OWN network then you probably don’t have access to Super Soul Sunday. Although, I think you can also watch a few episodes online, hence the link above, but please don’t quote me on that.

If you can’t then please go to Youtube and search for your favorite Personal Development teachers. What you can learn (again for free) will change your life for the better.

I promise. You won’t regret it.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

And to my friends outside the U.S. have a happy Thursday and a wonderful weekend.

-dave