How to Rise Up and Find Your Beat

Are you living your life in rhythm? You experience this when things finally line up and you feel more balanced. You’re in the zone, you start attracting the clients or fans who not only get what you do but they want more of what you have. You’ve found your beat!

Less is more

In my previous life, I booked and groomed young bands and solo artists. One thing I consistently had to tell the drummers is that “less is more.” That meant dialing it back a bit and not trying to add in tons of beats, fills, and cymbal hits. I wasn’t even teaching drums yet but I knew what makes a song sound good. And faster doesn’t always mean better – especially if the beat doesn’t fit!

Recently, I decided to listen to my own advice. I wondered what my life would be like if I actually dropped the things that were taking up loads of time but weren’t generating much income and were stressing me out. They also weren’t aligned with my Divine Assignment to help people feel better and heal with drumming.

I was definitely busy but…I was doing the wrong things. They may have been a good fit for someone else, but they weren’t a good fit for me.

The checklist

So, I pared things down. I asked myself 3 questions:
1) Is this bringing me closer to God?
2) Is this moving my Divine Assignment forward?
3) Is this bringing me joy?

I rated all the things I was doing, including my three businesses, teaching private drum lessons, and even serving on my church’s praise and worship team. If the activity didn’t match at least two of these criteria, they were dropped.

Only Next Stage Drumming checked all three boxes. Everything else was dropped. What happened next?

Well, believe it or not, Next Stage Drumming grew almost overnight. For the first time, I wasn’t hustling or cold calling. People were coming to me. Yes, some of these folks met me at networking events but others found me on their own.

In other words, when I let go, trusted God, and allowed myself to be the “Me” God created me to be, things shifted. When I did my books at the end of Aug., I noticed that my income has more than doubled from last year. And the year isn’t over yet.

How about you?

What would your 3-point checklist be? Everyone has different priorities and “core values.” Notice I didn’t put “helping people.” That’s a given. Your list may also change with time.

Think about it. If you’d like to share you checklist, feel free to leave a comment below. If you need additional clarity, we can arrange for a drum therapy or drum healing session (locally or virtually). Click here to schedule a time to chat.

Dori Staehle, MBA lives in the Raleigh, NC area and is the founder and CEO of Next Stage Drumming. She’s a certified drum therapist, percussionist, speaker, author, an ADHD specialist, and is a Toca Percussion artist. She loves to share the joy and healing power of drumming with individuals, groups, and organizations! Dori has enough hand drums and percussion instruments for 50+ people. Her programs are personalized, science-based, and loads of fun! She also offers private sessions locally or virtually, and yes, she also plays the full drum kit.