The Next Best Step

 “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” - Isaiah 43:19 

So, have New Year's resolutions come and gone already? Or are you still focused on what 2022 can bring? 

It's a scary world out there for sure, and every possible venture seems filled with question marks. But is it really? (I did that on purpose.)

The next best step for you is the one that makes sense RIGHT NOW. Not the million possibilities but the obvious answer in front of your face right now. 

The crossroads you are facing has a logical and sensible direction. You can feel it in your gut. Whenever I have a difficult choice to make and can see reasons to do each one, my wife always says the same thing: “What does your guy say?”

And that has usually been the right answer for the direction of my life.

In a recent podcast we were talking about “The Unfair Advantage” that certain people seem to have over others. But to me, everyone has a “Unique” advantage. A series of life choices that add up to where they are now.

Obviously, some decisions turn out to be questionable. But the best you can do is to take the next best step you can towards our life and creative goals. Choose as wisely as you can. Get advice. Read about it. Talk to your guru! Then check your heart and check your gut. 

Heart versus Brain versus Gut

Your heart, brain, and your gut may be fighting over this. Your heart might be saying either “This would be so fun to do!” Your brain might be saying, “This way seems too scary! You can’t do this.” But your gut looks plainly at the situation and already knows. “It’s pretty obvious when you look at it. I have the opportunity to do this thing. It’s been given to me. I need to go for it.” Or your gut says, “This isn’t right and I just know it.”

The heart does indeed NOT always get what the heart wants. The brain will usually overthink everything. But your gut usually knows the next best step.

The Right Step Now

“Whether it's the best of times or the worst of times, it’s the only time we've got.” - Art Buchwald

There are always steps in front of us we can take. But sometimes the decision to do a thing, has nothing to do with the thing itself. Sometimes what holds up back from doing is the timing of the thing.

So, it may just be that NOW is not the right time. Or it may be that right now IS the time. The new year is a great time to reconsider that step you’ve been waiting to take for years. Yes, as of the timing of this writing, COVID is still out there. But so are all the other risks that have always been there.

The things that held you back from taking the next best step were the things that stopped you years or decades ago. You’re still standing in the same place. Will COVID just be another reason not to do something? 

The Decision is Yours

Only you can take the next best step for you. Maybe these words may get you moving to the right place in your creative career. For the COVID wary, almost everything you want to do, every next best step is online. 

I finished a Master’s degree in the craziest and most dangerous time of the COVID virus. I did it online. I started a new thriving YouTube channel and business in the middle of 2021, while the virus raged and took loved ones from us.

COVID can’t be what stops you. Money can’t be what stops you. Fear can’t be what stops you.

Look at the next best steps in front of you and find a way to take the one you feel is right in your gut.

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”  - Theodore Roosevelt

Have a great week!

EC

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Eric Copeland is a composer, producer, and creative business owner still looking at each next best step and trying to take it. If you need help with how to make your music, or make income from your music, no matter what the barriers that exist out there right now, check out his sites below.

CreativeSoulOnline.com - Music Career Coaching, Production, and Marketing for Music Artists

MakeMusicIncome.com - Helping Composers, Producers, and Artists Make Music Income