Ashley Okinawa is: The Swagless Producer

Confessions of the Swagless Producer: Goals

It’s been a little over a year since I made the decision to leave my job, and then consequently decided to pursue a career making music. While I am nowhere near where I’d like to be, I have made great progress. In the next few weeks, I will try and post the lessons I learned, what’s worked, what hasn’t and what I’m doing now. Here’s a little overview of what I’ve learned.

Goals

This past year has taught me a lot. The most important thing that I learned was to set goals; clearly defined and realistic goals. When I first quit my job, I was like a lot of people who make music. I loved making beats and I just thought it would be nice to get paid for them. But with no plan, I ended up wasting a lot of time and money. I found that I was wanting to do so much that I actually wasn’t getting anything done.

Having goals changes the way I approach every aspect of what I’m doing. From the creative side to the business side. Over the past few months, I’ve found it easier to accomplish tasks if they’re made clear and a deadline is set. Also, goal setting has changed the way I handle my work. I’m finding that the actual creative process is the smallest piece of the puzzle.

A year ago, if you were to ask me what I was doing, my answer would have been, “Just trying this music thing to see where it takes me.” Today, I’m not trying, I’m doing. My goal on this day is to generate revenue from a published work that I own. It’s not a goal that is left up to luck— it’s strategic, it’s time consuming, it’s tiresome, but it’s going to be very rewarding once I accomplish it.

So to the producers, artists, singers, songwriters, who are trying to make it happen, I encourage you to set goals. Learn what it takes to obtain those goals, and then develop your road map to success.