I’m glad to have discovered Corbett Barr, who writes on Entrepreneurship.  He’s one of those writers that spark ideas, leaving me pondering for hours or days to come. He is hosting a webinar at noon CST today which I hope to fit into my schedule.  Either way, this post is one of those ponderables:

I’ve noticed something about my blogs and business over the past couple of years.

The more I open up and share my real self with the world, the more successful I become.

There’s just something about connecting with people on a genuine and human level that makes everything about business easier.

This might sound simple, but it took me years to figure it out. In the corporate world, I always had a vision of what the ideal “businessperson” was, and tried to emulate that. By doing that, I ended up living someone else’s dream instead of listening to what I really wanted to do (and probably came off a little stiff or calculating).

Keep reading… Getting Paid to Be “You” from Corbett Barr

I recently listened to an interview with Jeff Barson, a successful artist who later became an even more successful entrepreneur.  One of his key insights is his take on the persistence required to be successful.  He says everyone has grand ideas about what it’s like to be an artist.  They dream of going to gallery openings, wearing a beret and being famous. But few people want to actually do the art, to sit in a room alone at midnight painting.

This brings to mind my college days.  I was a fair artist at pencil drawing and charcoal.  I loved my drawing classes and actually enjoyed the practice work and assignments.  But when I got into new territory – watercolor, 3D design, ceramics – it was not so much fun anymore.  I had to force myself to do the work.  Words became easier to manipulate than clay.   As an art history major I discovered the joy of staring at art and writing about it instead.

I think the blood sweat and tears required of great art is even more apparent for musicians.  While we clap and marvel at the talent of the concert pianist, we never think of the hundreds of hours spent alone in a practice room.

Ethan Rouse, who Troy and I have known since he was a sixth grader going through confirmation at our church, is an amazing musician. He’s had full scholarship offers from several universities.  While his primary instrument is viola he can play just about anything.  At the recent downtown culture crawl, he played percussion with Troy’s band.  At one point he was tapping out the beat on a cardboard box. I jokingly said to his mom that they didn’t need to buy him a viola, just give him a box.  Her reply, “but a box wouldn’t get him to college.”