“The highest reward for a man’s toil is not what he gets for it but what he becomes by it” -John Ruskin
I once heard a story called, “The Obstacle in Our Path” that I want to share with you.

In ancient times, a king placed a boulder on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the big stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse on the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king saying that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder for the roadway. The peasant learned what many others never understand..

So what is the obstacle in your path? What’s the big boulder in the middle of your road to success?

The truth is we are all faced with some sort of obstacle along the way. For some it may be lack of money or education, for others a mental disability or kids to take care of. Whatever your obstacle is, don’t let it keep you from living your dream. No matter how long it takes, face that boulder head on and push it with everything you’ve got. Always remember, it’s the times when you want to give up but don’t, that you really see what you’re made of. Are you going to give up and quit or try harder, be more creative and dig your heels in?

It’s easy for us to commit to things that are easy or convenient but the result can be a long-term unhappiness with uncertainty of the cause. We can often cheat ourselves out of rewards simply wanting to avoid difficulty.

However, if we are willing to exert effort, we will reap great benefits.

The important lesson to remember is that work has its rewards. This is true in corporate settings, in your home, in your relationships, in every area of your life and especially music. If you are willing to pay the price, you can have the prize. The same principle applies to music production. If you are willing to work for the dreams in your heart you will be amazed by the person you will become in the process. If you want to reach any worthy goal at all or do anything significant, you will find you always have to go through a narrow place. Your narrow place may be walking away from negative relationships or putting yourself on such a tight budget you can no longer afford some of the small pleasures of life, such as a cup of coffee or a movie ticket. You may have to choose to work while others are entertaining themselves. These kinds of disciplines will squeeze you and press you, but they will also lead you to the broad places of success and prosperity. When you are pressed and squeezed to the point you feel you can hardly breathe, make sure to stay focused on the reward ahead.

Tutorial: The Obstacle in your Path
1) Find a nice quiet place to think undisturbed. Think through all the obstacles keeping you from your goal(s) of destination.. Write them down in no particular order. Do this as a brainstorming process. Get as much onto paper/document as possible.
2) After brainstorming, organize each obstacle by priority. Use a computer document for this task and save it in a location you will not forget.
3) Choose the top 2 obstacles interfering with your goals. Brainstorm 3 action steps you can take within the next 7-14 days. Follow this process for each obstacle and keep moving them out of your way..