When I started my media composing journey, I was 14 years old.

I’m 30 now.

But recently I’ve found myself listening to the music I grew up with.

Some of the scores that made me want to compose for a living were John Williams’ Star Wars (specifically Episode VI), Hans Zimmer’s Gladiator, James Newton Howard’s Unbreakable, and John Powell’s The Bourne...

When I ask students, they’ll often tell me “I write music because I love it.” And I hear that.

But often as those composers try to turn their passion into a profession, they run into situations where they’re not writing music—at least not at the start. They may be doing copyist work, orchestration, or even non-musical work like administrative tasks.

So how can they...

The irony of full-time creative work is that many people pursue them to escape a 9-5 and do what they love…

…only to work twice as long, through weekends, and with an endless sense of unyielding urgency. 

Rushing to “make it” as a professional composer is a quick and inevitable path to burnout. If you’re feel that urgency, it might be time to pause...

Composing a minute of music used to take me 20+ hours. I wanted every second to be perfect. But no matter how long I worked, I was never happy with the finished product. 

I had to learn how to let go of perfectionism to keep my passion for composing alive.

Here's four strategies I use every day to avoid the perfectionist trap:

Give Yourself Less Time 

According to Parkinson's Law,...

Pursuing creativity isn’t easy. The choice to become an artist is already difficult, let alone dealing with other people's opinions about it.

And when it comes to art, everyone has an opinion.

Here are some criticisms I've received over the years (from some not-so-nice clients):

"Your music doesn't sound original."
"I only hired you because my friend said you worked for free."
"This job was...

I recently picked up Ryan Munsey’s book “F*ck Your Feelings”—a book designed to help you overcome the limiting beliefs and habits that stop you from getting the results you want out of your health, work, and lifestyle.

It’s a great read for anyone into mental mastery.

Here’s some of the big takeaways I’ve gotten from his...

In May, I joined Rich Webster’s quarterly “Work Less Cohort”—and it was one of the best decision’s I’ve ever made.

Too often, creative entrepreneurs build a career that feels like a cage, boxing them in to draining hours, endless communication, and zero boundaries.

The Work Less Cohort is about undoing that, and making your business work for ...

A few weeks ago, I saw a post on the TEAMMATES forum that caught my eye.

Here’s what the OP wrote:

I see this kind of question often. Composers want to spend money...

Let’s face it:

If you’re a composer, you deal with self-doubt.

We often feel like imposters. Our work isn’t good enough to share. Our beliefs aren’t backed by enough experience. And once people learn the truth about us, we’re done for.

But there’s a reason we feel this way.

And it’s called the Dunning-Kruger effect.

Here’s how it...