How I Journaled My Way to Success

How I Journaled My Way to Success

By: Kris Bradley

I still remember the first time I went out in public carrying a guitar case.

I was 14 years old and I was taking a bus to meet up with a friend.

As I walked onto the bus, I couldn't help but notice people staring at me.  

Some of them smiled, some of them nodded, most looked at my curiously, as though I was an interesting...

Now, I knew that I had JUST learned how to play guitar, and I really wasn't very good yet…

But to my surprise, as people asked me who I was and what I did, the words "I'm a guitar player" just fell out of my mouth.

It was the first time I said the words "I'm a guitar player"...

...and while it felt a little audacious in the moment for a girl that only knew 2 Jewel Songs, and a quarter of "Stairway to Heaven", it also felt really good to say.

"I'm a guitar player".

As I said it, I felt an identity shift  inside of me - which came with a major boost in confidence.

I was no longer "aspiring" to learn how to play guitar, I was just doing it. 

That's when I realized, I could speak what I wanted into existence.

Years passed, and not only did I become a guitar player, I became a professional gigging musician, playing and singing in over 40 different states, and traveling to countries like India, Malaysia and Bangkok.

I had a similar experience when I started recording my music from home by making my own demos.

At first, saying the words "I'm a producer" literally made me cringe. 😬 

Especially when so many of my friends were producers.

I felt like such an imposter and it was as if I was expecting a parade of "real producers" to come barging in the door at any moment  saying "She's a fake!  She doesn't know what she's doing!  Get her!!"

But I decided to start calling myself a producer anyway.

So I just started saying "I'm a producer" before I believed it.

I mean, I was making tracks, writing parts, tracking vocals, and I was becoming a visionary for the final production of my songs… I was a damn producer! 

Then I decided to really grow a pair and took it one step further…

 I decided I want to be a professional producer and songwriter, and I made it my sole focus to turn music production into my full time job.

Even though I had no formal music training, no money to buy gear, and still couldn’t figure out how to get my mic to turn on about 60% of the time. (hellloooo tech) 

Although I had no idea how I was going to manifest this hairy, scary goal of becoming a pro producer, somehow I trusted that the path would reveal itself.

One night, about 9 years ago, I was bartending at a tiny underground jazz club in Long Beach, CA and I had 2 hours to kill before the live music started, and so I decided to take out a sheet of paper and write down my desire to become a professional musician on repeat.

As I wrote this message on repeat, I could feel the desire bubbling up inside of me, and I focused that energy into a vision of future me, working from her dream home studio, having the best computer and gear, and vibes for days.

I wrote little affirmations and journal entries all the time, and even started writing about my success as though it had already happened (rather than wishing for it).

This process is called "scripting", and it's a technique used to manifest goals by writing as though what you wish for has already occurred.

I started writing these when I was broke, and had no clue where the future was going to take me.

All I knew was in order to change my reality, I had to change my story. 

Fast forward to today, and I really do have my dream studio.  And it’s even better than I imagined it back then.   

It’s kinda crazy to look at the things happening in my life, and know that “past me” created this in her mind before it happened!  

That being said, the more I manifest, the more confident I become in knowing that I actually DO create my own reality, and that nothing is off limits.

I’m still dreaming up big ass goals and making plans to step into that next level, elevated, more expanded future version of myself.

The reason I’m sharing this is,  I’ve built an entire business showing musicians “how to” when it comes to producing music, putting systems in place, and building a business. 

But there’s so much more than “tactics” when it comes to the pursuit of your goals.

It’s a little “how to” and a lot of “how to be”.

So many people spend their lives on autopilot, letting the ants (automatic negative thoughts) run the show, and they don’t even realize how much power they have inside of them. 

Beliefs are just thoughts you keep thinking, and you can always choose to think again. 

The truth is, you’re writing the story of your life right now.

Whether you’re doing it consciously or not.

So…

What do you want to speak into existence?  

P.S.

If you'd like help dialing in your mindset, and getting all the tools you need to become a pro musician that makes money, simply click here to book a call and chat with someone on the P.LAB team 😁