Doing too Much

Is it possible for someone to go too hard? To do too good of a job? To actually overdeliver?

Since I was a kid, hard work was drilled into my head by my workaholic mom, who didn’t understand the concept of working smarter. And in my career, I’ve always tried to go the extra mile in order to differentiate myself.

Like Mike Tyson once said, “I run at 4AM, because I know my opponent is sleeping”. So my version of that has been working all night in the studio or staying up sending emails until I could no longer keep my eyes open. Not as thrilling as the man who once bit a chunk of Holyfield’s ear off in the heat of battle, but still, the same concept.

Outwork the next person and keep climbing. That was the mantra. But looking back, it wasn’t always necessary, especially since our version of “work” often consists of getting drunk at the club until the break of dawn. And in recent years, I’ve come across more data that reminds me I’m overdoing it, and that it can actually backfire.

In an effort to set myself apart from other agents in the industry, I’ve always prided myself on going the extra mile and exceeding expectations. This is especially important, because I don’t have the protection of a corporate entity in a big building to back me up. It’s all about what I can actually deliver.

So if other agents were booking 20 city tours, I was hitting 40 markets. If they were getting one national offer from a single promotional company, I was combing the country for the best promoters in each city.

I liken my flawed approach to an artist building an album. They may want to include 20 tracks, but if they were to cut 10 of those songs, they’d have a classic on their hands. I had to learn this the hard way.

Because, although 40 perfectly routed cities looks super impressive on a poster, it may not be the best strategy for a particular artist, who only really has a solid draw in half of those markets.

Failure in a couple markets is one thing, but failure in more than a handful of cities becomes a real problem, which has the ability to completely blow up a tour.

Remember, as I deliver a tour, a manager or tour manager needs to budget all of the expenses, and project sales from merchandise, meet and greets, etc. Then at the end of the day, the artist needs to come home with a decent chunk of money. Any show cancellations can threaten the continuity of the entire ecosystem.

So I’ve overdone it. And not just once. I’ve made the same mistake a few times. Trying to prove no one can mess with me when it comes to the work. But, come to find out, maybe others just work smarter.

I implore you to think about the things you can be doing to work smarter in life. Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work hard. It just means to make better decisions with your time and energy. Your peace of mind will thank you for it.

Congrats to @radmgnmt for winning this month’s free zoom consultation!

If you want to eligible for next month’s drawing, you can enter HERE.

Remember, you only need to enter once to be eligible.

Til next week.