Why and What For?: My Next One Hit Wonder

As I was considering today’s topic, I went to a brainstorm list I keep, and I came across some ideas I had heard a guy named Jim Rohn speak about.

Now, I don’t know much about him, but my understanding is that he was the primary source of inspiration for Tony Robbins’ work.

Tony is not my cup of tea, because I don’t seem to resonate with his focus on success mantras.

But I don’t want to put down either one of them, because I think many people have found their work and ideas to be extremely helpful and inspiring.

Rohn seemed a bit more philosophical and therefore a bit more my cup of tea.

Anyway, Jim was talking about doing the small things because they matter. He gave the example that when you leave a hotel room, turn out the lights.

I can see this.

It is a really simple and thoughtful act. I wish more people, myself included, could live like this more of the time.

I take long walks and am always sad to see trash and debris on the side of the road.

My theory is that most of this is not coming from “litter bugs,” but from the beds of pickup trucks. People put things in the truck bed, planning to throw them away later, and when they fly down the road—often over the speed limit in my neighborhood—the debris gets lifted into the air and ends up in the ditch.

I’ve seen it happen.

Later in the talk, Jim asked his audience to think about the goal of owning a $1,000,000 house. Now, I think this presentation happened in the early 1980s, so today he would probably have been talking about a $5,000,000 house—or maybe even a $10 million home—because he was describing prime real estate in an expensive state.

Then he asked the question:

“Why do you want the $5,000,000 home? What is it for?”

Meaning, what are you going to do with it? Why do you want it? What do you believe it will give you?

He encouraged the audience to really think about this because purpose is always the stronger motivating factor than the object itself.

I liked where he was going with this.

It is a key to building a life you love, not just one you think you want or need.

He later went on to say that the reason to become a millionaire—or anything else, for that matter—is because of the person you become in the process of reaching the goal.

Exactly.

That is what Highway to Yeah is all about.

The goal is setting in motion a process of authentic becoming.

Which brings me to the subtopic of today’s article.

I am ready to declare my next One Hit Wonder for the month.

In fact, I am starting a second one today, too, but I will not declare it as a One Hit Wonder until I have practiced it consistently for a month. I’ll save that discussion for tomorrow’s post.

My inner knowing has clearly pointed me toward the two most important ones to take on next, and these 2 are the ones.

For July, the One Hit Wonder is to play 100 open mic performances over the next year.

I started on June 21 of this year.

Since then I have played nine, including today’s performance.

That is fewer than I wanted to have completed by this point, but it has been a little less than one month since I started.

Essentially, to meet this goal I need to average eight open mics per month. That gets me to 96 performances.

When we used to get grades in school, that was a solid A heading toward an A+, so I’ll consider that success if I don’t hit an exact 100.

The good news is that I am picking up momentum.

I have learned where several open mics are held, and by publicly making this a One Hit Wonder, I am publicly committing to reaching this goal over the next year with 100% commitment.

I expect to move from averaging two performances per week to three or four per week for the remainder of July, August, and into September.

It will be good to bank a few performances in case of unexpected disruptions or fewer opportunities during the winter months.

Why? And what for?

Why am I choosing this as my next One Hit Wonder? What is the purpose?

On one level, it’s because it is a blast.

I’ve met some cool people, and I have enjoyed reconnecting with them at the open mics I’ve returned to.

And it’s a whole lot more fun than digital distractions like YouTube or streaming.

On another level, it’s because my music coach has encouraged me to do this.

He says there is nothing better for improving your skills and getting honest feedback than playing your music live.

I think he’s right.

On another level, though, it remains a mystery.

I’m not entirely sure why.

But my inner wisdom told me this is the next thing to do, so I have decided to follow it and see who I become in the process.

If you go back and read the three-part series called What Would Aragorn Do?, he showed up during a guided meditation about one of my big dreams.

Without speaking, simply through his gestures, he essentially invited me to join him on stage at the Prancing Pony—that is, any place where people gather to eat, drink, and listen to music—and to bring my sword.

(My guitar.)

Last week I was Starting to balk at this mission.

I went to a saloon, got a lackluster response to my performance, and ended up asking myself:

Is the juice worth the squeeze?

Well, guess what?

I’m going back again tonight.

And I’ll probably return a third time, too—unless I’m traveling to another city to play a different open mic.

You see, open mics can be difficult to find because hosts eventually have to step away due to other responsibilities or discouragement from a lack of participants.

What a gift it is to have someone willing to devote their time, energy, attention, and money to provide an opportunity for people like me to get up and play original material.

Look, this is my own journey of becoming.

At this point, I certainly don’t have promoters knocking down my door, sending emails, or texting me to book shows.

And I’m not even sure that’s what I’m after.

That remains part of the mystery.

But I do know this:

These songs I have written and rehearsed are calling me to get out and play them live.

And that is exactly what I intend to do.

Let’s see where the journey takes me over the next year.