Dread: anticipate with great apprehension or fear. Ugly cousin to fear & self doubt Synonyms: apprehension, trepidation, anxiety, worry, concern, foreboding, disquiet, unease, angst; fright, panic, alarm, terror, horror. Dread. It is impossible to reach your destiny or achieve your goals if you are constantly being overcome by dread. Fear & self doubt alone can do this, but dread seems like it is the nail in the coffin. I am writing about this because I just went through this last week. But I could not pinpoint the exact feeling. I was fearful, I was full of doubt, but the feeling was more, it was a bit crushing & anxiety producing… it almost stopped me. Dread was the perfect word to describe what I was feeling. What was I dreading? Well, as you know I write music for Film & TV. I do some of my own production, but usually I am paired up with songwriters who produce better than me and can help with that process. I started a song, was contacting some co-writers, and then I saw a listing (a search, or basically a description of a piece of music needed for a TV show). My song seemed to fit the listing well. BUT the deadline was about 24 hours away! So I got on the horn with a couple folks to help out, but they were too busy. EGADS! Was I going to have to do this myself? That fear & dread just ate at my stomach. These questions floated through my mind:
Blah blah blah blah… on and on the doubts piled up. I almost bagged it. But I knew… I knew that if I didn’t try, that when that deadline came and went I would feel even worse. I had to shake this horrible self doubt. So instead of watching the clock, and fretting over how the song would come out, I just started… I took ACTION (and prayed). ACTION, no matter how small, is one of the steps you MUST take to move past dread, fear & doubt. Instead of focusing on the big picture, I broke down the steps. You can do this to for any goal. Here is what I did: Big Picture: Write & Produce a Song in 24 Hours
PHEW. I am not sure exactly how much total time I worked on the song, but that is a lot in 24 hours! I did take many breaks, both forced by other things & by choice. That is a necessary element. Had I looked at that entire list I could have easily gotten overwhelmed, so I just went and did one thing at a time. I became extremely focused. Most importantly, I didn’t judge my work too much. Are there things I wanted to add? Maybe change? YES. But after all that, I will probably not go back to it. That can take you down a rabbit hole. So, how can YOU take a goal and break it down to manageable, actionable steps that allow you to move forward without being overwhelmed?
Dread is a trap. Focused action is the releaser. Sometimes all it takes is one small action and you will break through your dread, fear and doubt and accomplish great things! P.S. The results of the song submission: They liked the song but the lyrical content didn’t exactly fit what they were looking for. So that’s good, they liked my production… which is what I was most worried about . P.P.S: Here is a SoundCloud link to the song if you wanted to check it out https://soundcloud.com/michellelockey/long-way-home-to-you-extended Michelle is an award winning singer-songwriter with Film & TV music placements in over 70 shows on over 45 networks globally. To read more about Michelle Click Here. To read more about her Music Licensing Courses and get a FREE Sync Checklist go to Music Licensing Courses
1 Comment
Elise Morris
7/18/2017 05:08:55 pm
This is so good. Thanks.
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AuthorMichelle Lockey is a multi-award winning singer-songwriter sharing the knowledge she has learned over the years writing for Film & TV. Like what you are reading? Please Sign up to receive a FREE Music Licensing checklist! 10 Steps to Sync Success
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