How to balance a day job with a music career?

Hey everyone! So today, I‘m going to share a little insight with you about how exactly to handle this music business from the start.

Let‘s get started.

How I did it

So what happens is that I remember my first few jobs that I ever had. 

To me they were difficult.

and stressful. 

And I really wondered to myself,‘How does anyone do this for 40 years?‘

And so I didn‘t understand it, but I buckled down and actually my first few jobs were pretty successful. 

In one of the jobs that I had, I won a few awards and the experience that I got on that job looks really good on a resume. 

But I‘ll be honest here, I didn‘t find my small success until I matured a little bit. 

Really it had to do with reading the Bible. 

Because what happens is that the Bible describes riches as taking a long time to get and how it‘s usually God‘s will that the older you get, the richer you get. 

And so when I found that out, I tried figuring out ways to start my music career and start small and eventually build my way to the top. And so what happens is that I prayed about it. And honestly, it was God who gave me the success that I have right now. Sure I worked at it, but it was God who gave me the strength, determination, and patience to wait this long to receive my reward. 

So first off, you need to pray to God and include God in your plan. 

And the second thing is that you need to mature a little and come to the realization that every job is stressful to a point. But be strong enough to balance out those stresses with your music dreams stresses. 

Because trust me, it‘s stressful sometimes working on your music career. 

When you‘re not making shows happen, when your music blog gets little views in one day, when you‘re not making money off of your music ventures, it‘s very stressful. Especially because there is a lot that is dependent on the fact that you succeed. 

So to me, it was when I learned to balance out home, with work, with music, with school. 

And the school part to me is still difficult. It hurts me sometimes.

But learning to balance out the stresses is all a part of life. There will be times where you will be upset and the best thing to do is to just let it go. And I know that sounds hard, but it‘s honestly a skill that is such a blessing in your life that honestly it helps the job and music so much. 

I remember when I first started working, I took absolutely EVERYTHING personal. And anyone who has worked before knows that, that is the worst thing you could do. 

It was terrible. I was miserable at work. 

But I sucked it up and got through the job. 

Funny story time.

My first sales job I ever had, I was doing bad at the job at first, and it was door to door sales. 

Now if you know anything about door to door sales, you will know that you get angry customers yelling at you all day long to get off their property, 

You‘re going to get chased down by dogs, you’re going to get yelled at, and what‘s worse is that your manager is angry at you and threatening to fire you if you don‘t make a sale. And the sales are oh so difficult to make when you first start out. 

So what happens is that I remember so clearly.

I was walking one day and it was cold outside because spring had just gotten to the state so there was still winter weather. 

And what happened is that on this day, it poured rain like I have never seen before in my life. 

I could not even see in front of me.

It was that bad. 

And I remember I just stood there and cried for a good 5 minutes.

My manager saw me and he yelled at me to come over to him. 

And he saw that I was crying but I didn‘t admit it. 

And so he told me to get into the van we were riding in and he gave me a break but he told me to get back out there and try hard. 

So I buckled down again.

and that night, I just remember praying to God to give me strength to do the job right. 

And I went home and I practiced all of the things that my sales manager told me to practice. 

And I practiced like no one else. 

And that week, was the first week of a company wide competition to see who can sell the most window leads. 

I remember that Saturday so clearly, we were in a rich neighborhood. 

And I prayed to God to bring the sales to me. 

And I went, and I made 5 in one day.

Now, for those of you that don‘t know, in the company that I worked for, if you made 2 in one day, you were doing average, if you made 3, you were on fire, anything above that, and you would‘ve been one of the better ones in the team. 

The best guy in the entire company, only ever got 6 in one day by the time I was there. And they paid 50 dollars for each of those plus hourly.

I made 5. 

and not only that, but I won that week for the most window sales lead sold for that week and received 2 bonuses. 

And my manager named me king of the neighborhood and gave me a Burger King crown and 20 dollars cash. I took that crown that day and I showed it to my folks, and they were amazed at what I just did. 

And I will never forget the day that the Lord proved that he is king of sales. 

But what I was trying to get at is that I took everything personal in that job. I remember that I was very hurt at the end of the day.

But to be honest with you, they paid me so well, that I just dealt with it. 

at the time I didn‘t know how to compartmentalize the emotions so that I could work more effectively. I learned eventually, but it hurt those first few months. 

So that‘s my advice to you, Learn to compartmentalize and separate your emotions from home and work because that really makes a salesman, that really makes a good worker. 

Broadcast

I sure hope that I have been an inspiration and a hope to you all. Please remember to pray, read your bible, go to church, and love God above all else. Like, comment, share, subscribe, and I will see you all next time.

If you want to go to heaven, then believe in Jesus and you will go to heaven. (John 3:16)

Thank you all for listening in on this blog post. 

German Gonzalez, signing out!