I’m really behind on my reading. Like, really behind. I have magazines and books that have been sitting in my bedroom for well over a year. One of these is Success magazine… and what’s sad is that it’s not even a monthly magazine any more – it arrives in my mailbox quarterly.
So I’m not exactly proud to let you know that when I’m reading articles about how to make the new year better, they’re actually about 2019. Yeah, I’m a little bit behind.
Anyway, one of those articles is about the importance of reputation. The authors, Rory and AJ Vaden, define reputation as “results + reach = reputation.” And as I was reflecting on that, I realized that those are the two things, results and reach, that I’m trying to achieve with Bishops West.
Results: I think of this as very similar to (if not synonymous with) integrity. It’s making a commitment to do something, and then doing it. For us as musicians, it’s about actually making music, instead of just reading about it, talking about it, watching videos about it.
Reach: To me, this means community and influence. How big is your community, and what are you doing to build each person in your community? How is your music influencing and serving your community?
So, I’m going to take a little bit of a risk and put my commitments out into the world, knowing that doing so means I’ll be held accountable. Here are my commitments for 2020:
First, I commit to making more music. I started using Bitwig Studio in part because I have very limited time, and Bitwig makes a lot of the process fast and easy, especially grouping tracks, routing effects, etc. In 2020 I’ll put the knowledge that I’ve gained over the past few months into practice to create more music. Will some of it be trash? Absolutely. But that’s the only way to get better. (I’ll be posting under the ArcaynWays moniker; feel free to follow my progress at https://soundcloud.com/user-351735435.)
Second, I commit to expanding my reach. That sounds selfish and ambitious, but as I said above, my real aim is to build and serve a community. That means getting back to making YouTube videos, as well as blog posts, emails, and whatever other communication makes sense. I have a small group of people who have entrusted my with their email addresses, and 218 people who have subscribed to my YouTube channel; I owe it to all of you to continue supporting you in your music-making.
Third and finally, I commit to doing this while maintaining balance with my ultimate goals, priorities, and responsibilities. For me, that means God, family, and health come first. Please hold me to that! 🙂
There you have it. This year has the potential to be amazing, far surpassing everything that has gone before… for all of us. I wish you the best in this New Year, and I invite you to join me in building something incredible.
Sincerely,
Russ