“Leaders must ask themselves whether they want survival, success, or significance. The best leaders desire significance….If you had anything you wanted — unlimited time, unlimited money, unlimited information, unlimited staff…, what would you do? Your answer to that question is your dream. Acting on your dream adds significance to your life.” John C. Maxwell, “Developing the Leaders Around You”

Saturday night, Scott and I went to Luke’s Inn in Warren, RI for a 20-year reunion of the band Enforcer, a metal band Scott was in when we were young, and life was stretched out before us in an endless path of dreams to pursue. Enforcer had big dreams, enough great songs for an album, and the connections to open up for some major acts back in the late 80’s, including Fate’s Warning and Vicious Rumors.

Dave Pimentel, Enforcer’s drummer, was a machinist by day back in 1990. He ended up moving to LA, where he started Spaun Drum Company.  Ten years ago Dave married Lizann Warner, a singer who Saturday night told me a fascinating story – a story about how a change in perspective changed her life.

Do you need to look at your dream life differently?

Liz told me that like most struggling musicians with a dream, she had spent years working “day jobs” to pay the bills while pursuing a music career at night. But a day came when she realized that by seeing her “day job” as so important, she was treating her singing as if it were a hobby rather than a career. Her dreams were getting buried by the expectations of others (e.g., “until you ‘make it,’ you need a day job”). Liz decided to change her perspective and begin putting all her time into pursuing paying gigs. Restaurants, nursing homes, bands – whatever work she could get singing, she’d take it!

Her focus became making a living singing, and if a big break came, great – but if not, she was still going to be a professional singer.

Her change of focus: She wasn’t going to be a cashier hoping to become a professional singer.

Since she changed the way she saw herself, Liz has gone on to enjoy moderate success, singing tracks for video games (including on Guitar Hero 3), karaoke demos, and commercials, as well as gigging with bands (including a Heart tribute band called Dog ‘n’ Butterfly), singing at nursing homes, and entertaining at restaurants. She’s not financially wealthy, but she makes enough to pay the bills and have money left over. She’s better off now than she was working what she calls her “dead end day jobs,” and she’s getting a lot of exposure.

Lizann Warner as Barbra Streisand, singing “People Who Need People.”

Liz’s wealth lies in doing what she knows she was born to do, and she’s not allowing others’ expectations to discourage her or distract her. She keeps her eyes and ears open for new opportunities, and seizes them as they come. She had no qualms about asking us to check out her videos on our Smart phones right there at the restaurant. She graciously took requests for vocal impersonations (you should hear her sing Alanis Morrisette and Cyndi Lauper!), singing out loud, even though she was hoarse. While she’s busy working (and working at keeping her calendar booked), Liz is creating a Las Vegas show with a partner, to pitch to investors. And now, because he heard Lizann’s astounding gift for imitating vocalists,  Scott has asked her to work with him on some songs he wants to pitch to a well-known artist.

Liz is my new hero. She’s added significance to her life. She’s doing what she loves rather than slaving away at a job that has nothing to do with her gifts, and is pursuing bigger dreams all the time.

So — What dreams are you setting aside and treating as hobbies while you work your “day job”? Are you limiting your opportunities by refusing to take jobs you consider “beneath you” financially or professionally because they’re not exactly what you want? Or do you have a “success story” like Lizann’s?

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Michelle handles all Social Media for New England Multimedia, an internet marketing team specializing in web design, True HD Video production and Wordpress blogging/social media consultation. You can contact her by email, on our Facebook, through LinkedIn, or on our Twitter profile.

Since last summer, after shooting video of the Blue Angels at the RI National Guard Air Show, Scott and I had been looking forward to this year’s Air Show at Quonset Point in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.

The Blue Angels, from the Rhode Island National Guard Air Show 2009

If you can’t see the video, click: The Blue Angels.

This year, though, the cloud cover was heavy, it was humid out, and the performances we wanted to catch were taking place when the sun was high in the sky. Eh. Not the best conditions for shooting video that we’d already told people we’d be posting on our website. I’d even passed out business cards!

Rhode Island Quonset Air Show 2010: F-18 Hornet, Sean Tucker, and Thunderbirds

If you can’t see the video, click: Rhode Island Quonset Air Show 2010.

Being perfectionist about our work can be a blessing because we take pride in what we do, we give it our all, and our clients get the benefit of that. But it’s also what’s kept us, in the past, from doing the things we love — for me, writing professionally, and for Scott, publishing his music. Nothing is ever good enough, ready enough, right enough for us. Well, I don’t want to live like that anymore, and neither does Scott. We’ve decided to jump off the cliff together every now and then and say, “The hell with it. Let’s just go for it!”

What's Keeping You From Pursuing Your Dreams?

To fight his own perfectionism, Scott has been writing/recording and uploading a new song every night since January 1st, 2010, almost every one an improv with no overdubs or rewrites. That takes courage, but he decided “The hell with it” and started putting himself out there, naked, every night for critique. He figures it’ll prove that he’s prolific and can handle custom music projects needing fast turnaround, like films, videos, and video games.

I’m learning to let go of my own mile-high standards and trust that everything will work out if I just get started and then keep moving. I finally started the not-anonymous blog Love Covers All after a year of mulling it over, even though I still cringe every time I hit “publish” (and I’m cringing even telling you about it). Because I have a terrible tendency to procrastinate like crazy on projects that require attention to detail — I want everything to be perfect — I have a list a mile long of all the things I “need” to do to this website, and another list of ways to optimize our internet marketing.

Rather than be paralyzed, though, every day I take a step forward. I have a Dream to catch, and New England Multimedia is paying for my ticket.

How about you? Has perfectionism been a blessing or a curse for you?

Note: Because I want your comment to stand, please read our simple comment policy before replying! Thank-you!

Michelle handles all Social Media for New England Multimedia. You can contact her by email, on our Facebook, through LinkedIn, or on our Twitter profile.