Are you one of those people who is fired up all the time? Do you get out of bed every morning ready to kick ass and take names? If so, I absolutely hate you. Sorry, that wasn’t very nice. I don’t actually hate you, I’m just envious because I’m not that guy. I’m not even close to that guy.
When it comes to business energy, I need to find ways to cheat a little and sometimes a lot. I need creative ways to get that MOJO to go off and conquer the world. As a business person, entrepreneur, student, athlete, or whatever passion you are pursuing, you are going to need a MOJO accelerator from time to time. One of the easiest ways I have found to do this is with music. Here’s the best part. It is easy to find, cheap to acquire and does the trick (almost) every time. This is not new to me but somehow I had forgotten this secret and inexpensive powerhouse solution.
My Story
I’m going through the founding of a new business. For months I woke up at 3:00 a.m. and headed to my office to crank on whatever I needed to do that day. I couldn’t be stopped, a force to be reckoned with. I was a walking version of Jefferson Starship’s “Nothing is Going to Stop us Now”. And then it happened; one morning I woke up and the energy was gone. The energy had given way to self doubt, confusion and uncertainty about my path and my vision. Great! How in the heck did that happen?
Days if not weeks went by where I literally had to fight to get re-energized every morning. My wife would do her best to prod me along and my son always put a smile on my face but once I returned to my office, it was just me and my thoughts. No business partner to chat with, no team of energetic employees to inspire me and no money to hire a therapist (seriously considered it). It was just me, my business plan, my vision and my computer. Sweet. It was official now. I had hit a patch of what I would refer to as the doldrums, the blahs, the slumps, or the funks. Okay, you get the point. So how does one get him or herself out of this sour malaise?
The Solution
There is no one silver bullet to any significant problem but this was definitely a handful of lead bullets to prepare me for the fight. I spent 30 minutes this morning on iTunes downloading $20 worth of music, plopped it in a playlist and listened while I read the morning news. Before I knew it I was tapping my foot, clapping my hands, and energy was back in my voice. Amazingly enough, I was starting to get that MUCH NEEDED MOJO BACK!!
Although I love all types of music including Country, House, Jazz, and Hip-Hop, today was all rock n’ roll. Here are some of the songs I downloaded and these are likely the ones I’ll be listening to over the next few weeks. Enjoy!
Top 5: Holbrook Songs to AMP your BUSINESS MOJO
5. “The Stroke” by Billy Squier
4. “Cowboy” by Kid Rock
3. “Over the Mountain” by Ozzy Osbourne
2. “Panama” by Van Halen
1. “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC
You’ve been ….. THUNDERSTRUCK!! And if rock is not your thing, find a genre of music you love and go for it. This article was inspired by Ben Horowitz’s book, The Hard Thing about Hard Things. He cites music lyrics at the start of every chapter. Thanks Ben, just the little reminder I needed!