#34: No One Gives a F*ck… Until They Do

Send us a text

Yesterday, I fell prey to my own small-mindedness.

I had prepared a song over the last two weeks to perform live. And it didn’t go as planned. The response wasn’t what I was anticipating, and I had a brief foray with my inner bitch—Poopy Pants made an appearance.

That voice told me:
 “No one cares.”
 “You suck.”
 “What’s the point?”

Today, I took a look at the whole thing and reminded myself: stop giving a fuck about how things are received. If you know what you’re doing is important to you, and it feels positive, and you’re in your usefulness—and you're not hurting anyone—then you have to trust that you're on the right path.

Here’s what actually happened:

I’d prepared this track for two weeks, and while I was building it, I was fantasizing—visualizing how it would land. Basically trying to control the universe.

I get to the venue. A French girl named Joe goes up before me—she’s leaving town in two weeks and brought her crew with her. Room full of hot babes. Which means room full of dudes orbiting the hot babes. Big crowd.

She crushes. Then they all go to the bar. Half the room clears.

I made the mistake of thinking the scenario was different. But most open mics aren't designed to create cohesion between artists. This crowd wasn’t there for the show—they were there for her. And when she was done, they dipped. That was the accurate read.

But instead of staying with the truth, I synched up with my victim. Went small. Instead of cultivating the positivity of the moment, I went negative. That sucked.

What’s crazy? I got a lot of love afterward. People who were there dug it. But I was irked that I even went there—to that “no one cares” mindset. I forgot the cardinal rule:

You're not entitled to anything.
Not to people's attention. Not to their adoration. Not to their money.
The only thing you can control is the quality of what you deliver.

If you’re writing a book, make sure every single paragraph is worth the money.

If you’re performing, give the people in front of you your full soul—no matter how many are left.

If you’re blessed to hit that moment where preparation meets opportunity and something takes off—great. But know this: all the complexity you feel at the small scale? It scales with you.

So don’t chase complexity. Scale simplicity.
 Stay focused on making the thing actually good.

That’s the play.