When I was fifteen, I was convinced I was going to be a rock star. I had just got my first electric guitar and learned how to play Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water”. Those five chords were all I needed to conquer the world. I was obsessed with making my mark before I turned twenty-seven, afterall, that’s the age that all the great rock stars died at – Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Robert Johnson… all died at twenty-seven.
This May I will be turning twenty-seven.
The years following my fifteen-year-old-rock-star-fantasy were tough years for me. Family stuff, girlfriend stuff, anxiety stuff. I wasn’t where I wanted to be, and let everyone know it through my angst-ridden poetry and music. But about two years ago, things started turning around. I got a book deal and was published. I was hired by Lisa Nova and left my full-time job to work at home. I started a record label which has been wildly successful and inspirational to so many. Like dominos, one life-long goal after another became reality, in just the past twenty-four months.
I’m not okay with dying at twenty-seven any more. Screw being a rock star!
I love where my life is right now, and even though aspects of it could always be better, I’m happier now at this moment than I can ever remember being. On formspring people routinely ask me about ambition and drive and creativity. And while it may seem that some people get everything they want over night, that’s never the case. It always starts with a tiny dream, back when you’re fifteen, or eighteen, or whenever. And it isn’t easy making it through the hard years, the tough weeks, the shitty days. But on the other side of it all, those days and weeks and years make you who you are, and give you the strength and experience to accomplish what you want.
Set a goal right now. Set it so high you don’t believe you’ll ever really hit it. Set it so high that even if you fall miserably short, you’ll still be above where you are right now. Then start living it. Even if that means singing songs to an audience of one: yourself. Even if that means writing daily blog posts that get zero comments. Even if that means talking to a hundred girls that don’t like you, so you can find that one who does.
Without even bothering to start, you can’t ever hope to cross the finish line.
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Very inspirational! I love the new site design too :)
Hi Alan,
I’ve been watching your youtube channel for a while now, but this is my first time checking out your website.
After reading your blog post I sort of broke down a little bit. The beginning of your story echoes my own desires at a younger age, but now that I’m older I feel even further from those dreams. I was wondering if there was something that actually changed for you that brought such positive karma into your life, or was it something you did yourself, or was it something you just had to wait patiently for.
Anyways, thanks for your time and all the best,
Kay