The music industry has many challenges, so we’ve created a guide on resilience to help you through them.

Resilience

# Why Resilience Matters For Musicians
*2 min read*
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A musician’s career is filled with handling uniquely difficult circumstances, which is why it’s important to develop resilience. Common circumstances musicians will face are...

* The pressure to be creative on demand. When your ability to come up with new creative ideas is tied to your income and the income of others on your team, this can create tremendous amounts of stress.
* Maintaining a demanding work schedule with unconventional and variable hours.
* Hearing harsh criticism about yourself from the outside world. Especially now that social media is widely used as a tool for promotion and fan engagement, you have a direct line to hear what people think about you and your music. Having to read negative comments and reviews comes with the territory of being a musician. Fielding that negativity requires high levels of resilience to not let it impact your health and wellbeing.
* Being away from home and loved ones on tour.
* Experiencing surges of adrenaline that can offset your emotional balance.
* Earning an inconsistent income.
* Being surrounded by drugs and alcohol.
* Struggling to maintain healthy sleeping and eating habits.
* Balancing your identities as a musician and human being at the same time. As a musician, people will want you to perform a certain way and meet certain expectations. You must learn to balance your needs as an individual and in your career to maintain a healthy mental state.

In addition, clinical psychologist [Dr. Chayim Newman](https://drchayimnewman.com/) writes that neurologically, musicians may be predisposed to struggling with their mental health. “Centers in the limbic system that control negative emotion tend to be more heavily \[located] in the right side of the brain,” says Newman. “\[Creatives] tend to have dominance in the side of the brain that creates more negative emotions… We might even say there’s a predisposition for \[that].” 

For these reasons, it is so important to develop practices of resilience. Building this strength will allow you to face challenges head-on and develop a balanced lifestyle that is sustainable and in tune with your needs. 

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# How does resilience support mental health and wellbeing for musicians?

* When you are faced with inevitable hardship, resilience will help you bounce forward more quickly.
* It helps you become less reactive and more able to problem-solve.
* Allows you to become more in touch with yourself and in turn, better able to make decisions and be in control of what you want for your own life.
* Improves your relationships with others and creates a stronger support system.

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# How does mental health and wellbeing accelerate and sustain a creative musical career?

* Have more energy on stage, meeting fans, during the recording process, and beyond.
* More easily generate authentic and creative ideas.
* Find more joy in your work.
* Collaborate more effectively with others.
* Form more meaningful relationships.
* Stay away from unhealthy behaviors.

To meet the extreme demands of this career path and sustain your creativity, joy, and motivation, prioritizing your personal mental health and wellbeing is essential. The lack of emphasis on mental health and wellbeing in the music industry is an extremely serious issue. A study conducted by the University of Westminster and MusicTank reports that 68.5% of 2,211 musicians surveyed have experienced depression, and 71.1%. have experienced severe anxiety or panic attacks. Their results also indicated that musicians are “3 times more susceptible to depression than the average person.” Too many people in the industry fail to recognize this problem, leading to a persistent toxic culture that neglects mental health for musicians. We mourn musicians such as Amy Winehouse, Mac Miller, Chris Cornell, Avicii, and too many others. Your mental health is the most important thing and it is vital to sustaining a career in the music industry. 

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# References

[What Are We Doing For Artists Who Struggle With Mental Health Issues?](https://www.thefader.com/2015/11/06/mental-health-music-industry-du-blonde-visionist-alanna-mcardle)

[‘We Can’t Have All Our Artists Die’: How the Music Industry Is Fighting the Mental-Health Crisis](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/we-cant-have-all-our-artists-die-how-the-music-industry-is-fighting-the-mental-health-crisis-939171/)

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If you or someone you know needs immediate help, please take a look at [these resources and help lines](/toolkit/helplines).

A musician’s career is filled with handling uniquely difficult circumstances, which is why it’s important to develop resilience. 

Why Resilience Matters For Musicians

# Healthy Mind, Healthy Body (and Vice Versa)
*4 min read*
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When thinking about health, one of the first things that come to mind is the body. Without a healthy and strong body, it’s hard to achieve our purposes. In this fast-paced world, we prioritize physician appointments, daily workouts, and healthy diets to keep our bodies fit and functional. However, there is something just as crucial we tend to neglect: our mental health. As the adage goes, a healthy body is a healthy mind. Optimal mental and spiritual health, as demonstrated by science, plays an essential role in physical health. For this reason, finding the perfect balance between mind and body will open the doors to a healthier and more joyful life.

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# A Guide to a Healthy Mind

**Start a Gratitude Journal**<br/>
Here are some steps to start a gratitude journal:

* Get a Journal. Doesn't have to be some fancy leather thing, really any blank notebook you see lying around will do
* Pick a time to write. This is all about building a habit, the more consistency in your routine, the better...
* Figure out how you want to journal. Anything from jotting lists to writing paragraphs are great ways to start

Now, after following these three steps, you're ready to begin. Here are some prompts to inspire you: 

* What’s something that you’re looking forward to?
* Write about a happy memory.
* What have you been given that you’re grateful for?
* What’s something or someone that makes you feel safe?
* How are you able to help others?
* What skill(s) do you have that you’re grateful for?
* Write about a relationship that you’re grateful for.
* What’s something about your body or health that you’re grateful for?
* Write about 3 things you’re grateful for today.
* What about the process of creating art are you grateful for?

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**Add Meditation to Your Routine**<br/>
Meditation can give you a sense of calm, peace and balance that can benefit both your emotional well-being and your overall health. And these benefits don't end when your meditation session ends. Meditation can help carry you more calmly throughout your day. Honestly, it's truly amazing what it can do, here are some ways to integrate the practice into your routine and some guided meditations you can follow:

* [Tips](https://chopra.com/articles/8-steps-to-establish-a-daily-meditation-practice) to establish a daily meditation practice
* [Guided meditations](https://www.yogajournal.com/meditation/meditation-classes/). These vary in length and topic, so you can find one that suits your individual needs
* If you're an app person, try out programs like [Headspace](https://www.headspace.com/) or [Calm](https://www.calm.com/), their teams have built excellent easy-to-use meditation guides around all types of mental health issues.

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**Try a New Hobby**<br/>
Creating music takes A LOT of mental capacity and finding that spark of inspiration can be... exhausting, to say the least. Find a hobby outside of music to work on when you feel burnt out. This will allow you to channel your energy towards something else that brings you joy and happiness. Here's a range of hobbies from low-commitment to high:

* People Watching. Sit in a park and notice all the strange micro-behaviors of humans.
* Sports (biking, speed walking, tennis, etc.) If you feel you tend to have pent up energy, try out a sport.
* Camping. There's a reason people say nature is healing. Live in and breathe the outdoors for a couple of days, you'll instantly feel restored.
* Baking. Cooking can be difficult, baking, on the other hand, is a bit easier and sweeter!
* Join a Volunteer Group. It's a great way to get out of the house, meet new people, and help others.

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# A Guide to a Healthy Body

Exercise, sleep, and a balanced diet. This is the trifecta everyone talks about, but for good reason. Focusing on these three aspects of your life can make a significantly positive difference on your mental health. Here are ways you can do this:

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**Exercise**<br/>
Start with a goal to just intentionally move your body every day. This could mean going for a 5 minute walk up and down your street, or doing a yoga video in your living room. Start with a time frame and a movement cycle that makes sense for you. Carving out even a little bit of time for movement will help you better connect to your body and mind.

Similarly, find exercise you actually enjoy doing. This is key! It will be significantly easier to make exercise a part of your lifestyle if you choose something that makes you happy. Try different workouts. You can do this at home or try out different studios/gyms near you (lots of places do “first class free” specials). YouTube is also a great place to start for free at-home content. I also encourage you to take walks in your neighborhood/the area around your workspace and enjoy the fresh air (if it is warm!). You might not find your favorite way to move your body right away, but keep trying!

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**Sleep**<br/>
As a musician, you likely find yourself working unconventional hours (working long into the night, waking up at the crack of dawn for an interview, etc.). As much as you can, it is important to maintain a consistent sleep schedule. Lack of sleep is one of the leading causes of burnout! You need to rest in order to be able to rise to the mental, physical, and emotional demands of being a musician. Try to wind down as best as you can! Burn a candle, read a book, and try to limit time on electronics. This is important self-care time that will help you face the next day ahead.

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**Balanced diet**<br/>
It can be very difficult to find meals/recipes that can be eaten on-the-go in the studio or on the road. Find healthy staples you enjoy to make eating a balanced diet part of your lifestyle – not just a fad. Try to eat meals even when you're busy. Sandwiches are a great staple for on the go. Be mindful about loading them up with ingredients that will keep you nourished and fueled. If you don't get around to a meal, for snacks go for nuts, popcorn, fruit, or carrots/cucumber and dip.

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**Vocal health**<br/>
This is the part of the body most people don't think about health maintenance, but it's so important as a musician to not hurt yourself when practicing or performing. Here are some tips from the pros to ensure proper vocal health:

1. Rest as much as possible. This is the hardest one! Try to completely rest your voice (no speaking/singing) for as long as you can
2. Gargle saltwater
3. Drink throat coat [tea](https://www.traditionalmedicinals.com/products/throat-coat-tea/)
4. Steam your throat. Take a hot shower or even better, [buy a personal steamer](https://www.target.com/p/vicks-personal-steam-inhaler-with-variable-steam-control-38-soft-mask-22-56oz/-/A-52398443?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&fndsrc=tgtao&DFA=71700000049427611&CPNG=PLA_Health%2BShopping_Local%7CHealth_Ecomm_Essentials&adgroup=SC_Health&LID=700000001170770pgs&LNM=PRODUCT_GROUP&network=g&device=c&location=9060451&targetid=pla-614511304310&ds_rl=1246978&ds_rl=1248099&gclid=CjwKCAjw8cCGBhB6EiwAgOReyz0N6M1ZpTCRrlpNgxHpjF2lvdjDtcKrY4vgdHLoYpk8Dbc-TYtwqxoCvowQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds)
5. Hydrate!! (like... a lot of water)
6. Use throat lozenges. [These](https://www.amazon.com/Thayers-Slippery-Elm-Lozenges-Plain/dp/B0002UHJ2K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439271376&sr=8-1&keywords=slippery+elm+lozenges) are the ones the Broadway singers recommend

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If you or someone you know needs immediate help, please take a look at [these resources and help lines](/toolkit/helplines).

When thinking about health, one of the first things that come to mind is the body. Without a healthy and strong body, it’s hard to achieve our purposes. In this fast-paced world, we prioritize physician appointments, daily workouts, and healthy diets to keep our bodies fit and functional. However, there is something just as crucial we tend to neglect: our mental health.

Healthy Mind, Healthy Body (and Vice Versa)

# The Growth Mindset
*1 min read*
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One of the best ways to foster resilience is to develop a growth mindset. According to psychologist [Carol Dweck](https://youtu.be/hiiEeMN7vbQ), we have two main mindsets when approaching new challenges: a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.

**Fixed mindset**<br/>
“In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort.”

**Growth mindset**<br/>
“In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.”

Our brains are in a constant state of change. Each day as we move throughout the world, our brains form new connections and rewire its structure. This means that your cognitive abilities are not fixed – you have the ability to continuously learn new information and adapt to new situations. This is what is meant by the scientific concept of neuroplasticity, we are neurobiologically resilient!

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# To develop a growth mindset, Dr. Dweck has created 15 strategies to remember: 

1. Remember neuroplasticity: Your brain’s structure is not fixed
2. Appreciate the process over the results
3. Acknowledge your weaknesses
4. Cultivate your sense of purpose – your “why”
5. Don’t say failing, say learning. Shift your vision of failure; mistakes are opportunities to learn
6. Value effort over talent. Refer to [Malcom Gladwell’s](https://www.newyorker.com/sports/sporting-scene/complexity-and-the-ten-thousand-hour-rule) idea that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. The most successful people had to put in the work.
7. Consider challenges as opportunities
8. Place growth before speed. Learning takes time
9. Do not chase other people’s approval
10. View criticism as a gift
11. Celebrate actions, not attributes 
12. Grow with others
13. Take time to reflect. Use techniques such as journaling to reflect on your personal growth
14. Cultivate (productive) perseverance!
15. Use the “not yet” technique. This is a great way to reframe your thought process. “When you’re struggling, just remind yourself that you haven’t mastered that skill… yet.”

Being open to growth is one of the best ways to embrace resilience!

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If you or someone you know needs immediate help, please take a look at [these resources and help lines](/toolkit/helplines).

One of the best ways to foster resilience is to develop a growth mindset. According to psychologist Carol Dweck, we have two main mindsets when approaching new challenges: a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.

The Growth Mindset

# The Three Myths (and Truths) of Resilience
*2 min read*
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What is Resilience? This definition of resilience that was developed from over a decade’s worth of qualitative interviews and collecting thousands of pieces of data, is as simple as it is powerful.

> *“Resilience is the ability to effectively address challenge, change, and complexity in a manner that allows us to be enhanced by the experience and not diminished.”*

This definition is impactful because of what is and isn’t included. There are no phrases like “quickly recover” or “bounce back” because even though for years these phrases have been used in conjunction with resilience, they are actually myths. 

They are not only untrue, but also effectively inhibit our ability to harness our resilience. We’ve been conditioned to believe falsehoods such as: “If I don’t go back to the way I was before a challenge, change, or experience of complexity, I’m not resilient”. Let’s dissect the three most prevalent myths in greater detail...

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# Myth #1: Resilience is about bouncing back.

Truth: Resilience is the act of bouncing forward, not back. 

Challenges fundamentally and forever change us. Resilience is the process of experiencing challenges and allowing ourselves to be foundationally altered by way of engaging with our experience. Perhaps you’ve heard of the concept of neuroplasticity, the idea that our neurons are constantly growing and changing, firing and rewiring into networks that are mirroring our experiences. According to neuroplasticity, any experience we have changes us on the neural, molecular level, as our neurons reorganize to best serve us. Allowing ourselves to be changed by our experiences is a hallmark of our human resilience, not a weakness.

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# Myth #2: Resilience is about waiting for time to heal our wounds.

Truth: Resilience is an active process, not passive.

We often hear phrases in the English language like “time heals all wounds.” These types of messages suggest that healing is a passive process, rather than an active engagement in our personal, emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual evolution. While time does lessen the sting of wounds, losses, and grief over time, resilience is more akin to Andy Warhol’s quote “Time changes things, but you have to change them yourself.” This means that in order to effectively harness the lessons of our experience, we have to be present, active participants of our lives and learn from our challenges.

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# Myth #3: We are inoculated with a fixed amount of resilience at birth.

Truth: Resilience is dynamic. 

Many people believe that you’re either resilient, or you’re not. Or believe that each person is inoculated with a certain amount of resilience at birth, and that’s all we get for our lifetimes. The truth is that resilience is like a muscle. The more we engage in resilient practices, the more we can enhance our resilience “muscle” over time. Challenge, change, and complexity tend to be the elements of our life experience that most strengthen our resilience.

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If you or someone you know needs immediate help, please take a look at [these resources and help lines](/toolkit/helplines).

What is Resilience? This definition of resilience that was developed from over a decade’s worth of qualitative interviews and collecting thousands of pieces of data, is as simple as it is powerful.

The Three Myths (and Truths) of Resilience

# Practices of Particularly Resilient People
*4 min read*
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I wanted to learn more about how people effectively addressed challenge, change, and complexity. I am a believer in learning from what works in our lives, and hindsight being 20/20, we often have more perspective on our experiences than we did in the moment. My inquiry into how people demonstrated resilience began with one question:

Think about a time you have faced a challenge: *What did you do to effectively address that challenge?* 

After working with hundreds of extraordinary leaders and collecting their answers, ‘The Five Practices of Particularly Resilient People’ emerged. They are called “practices” for good reason. Enhancing our resilience isn’t a one and done affair. Rather, enhancing our resilience is a series of practices with which we engage in over the course of our lifetimes. Here is an introduction to ‘The Five Practices of Particularly Resilient People’, and in each, we’ll examine each practice as it pertains to being a musician individually.

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# The Practice of Vulnerability

You might be surprised to find that vulnerability is a practice of resilience. If you’re like many people, you were brought up to think that resilience is about toughness. That in order to be resilient, we need to put on a suit of armor, and ride into figurative battle, not allowing our experience to touch or change us. Yet, people who are most resilient in the face of challenge, change, and complexity are those who allow themselves to be softened by their experiences, not hardened. 

Those who are most resilient allow their thoughts, experience, and feelings on the inside to match the person they show to the external world. Effectively allowing our “inside self” (i.e., our internal thoughts, feelings, and experiences) to match our “outside self”, the person we show to the world, is called ‘congruence’ in psychology. The more congruent we are as people, the more we are able to function in society without burning up a lot of energy navigating and managing two separate personas, our inside self and outside self. In addition, the most resilient people share their experiences, the challenges, changes, and complexities with the people in their lives who support them in these tender moments. Being vulnerable enough to share your experiences in these moments means having access to greater information, support, and resources because when people know what we’re going through, they are better able to provide support. 

Finally, vulnerability is also key to resilience because it is the foundation of much of our human connection; vulnerability provides the cornerstone for authenticity and empathy. If you think about it, we can’t be either authentic or empathetic as humans unless we first allow ourselves to be vulnerable. In addition, if we know that vulnerability is valuable, why aren’t we all running around living fabulously vulnerable lives? The answer is a common bias we carry as humans called ‘Vulnerability Currency’. When we believe that our ‘currency’ or relationship capital will be diminished by being vulnerable, even though we tend to think more of others when they share vulnerability, we are engaging in this bias, it keeps us caught in our vulnerability cage. 

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# The Practice of Productive Perseverance

Being able to pursue goals intelligently is the hallmark of this practice. The intelligent pursuit of a goal is being able to navigate the, at times paradoxical approach of knowing when to maintain the mission, despite challenge, change, and complexity, and when, in the face of diminishing returns, to pivot in a new direction. The practice of Productive Perseverance is all about navigating the complexity that exists between the single-minded pursuit of a goal, demonstrating grit, versus knowing when the pursuit of a goal has diminishing returns, and it would be wise to invoke plan B. In the world of music and artists, this practice is particularly profound. Productive Perseverance is about pursuing a goal even when you don’t know if you’ll “make it” or not and doing your best to navigate the complexities of the music industry. 

# The Practice of Connection

The idea of connection might seem to be simple, but this is one of the more complex practices of resilience. It allows us to dive more deeply into our relationship with ourselves and other people. It is focused on developing our intuitive abilities, to listen to and know ourselves, to value ourselves, to know our worth, and to trust our gut over external voices. In addition to our deep connection with ourselves, the practice of connection is also about our ability to draw strength from existing support networks. Living and working in communities, fostering collaborative partnerships, sharing information, and working in teams are key behaviors to develop relationships over time. However, this practice becomes difficult to discern when our internal connection to ourselves is at odds with our external connection to others. Perhaps someone gives us advice we don’t agree with or asks us to do something that is not aligned with our internal desires. Learning to effectively navigate, as well as prioritize our connection with ourselves, alongside our connection with others is a hallmark of resilience.

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# The Practice of ‘Grati-osity‘

Perhaps you have not heard this word before. If you haven’t it is because this is a hybrid word created to encapsulate the practice of resilience that is a combination of gratitude (grati) and generosity (osity). Put together, the practice of ‘grati-osity; is the ability to, first, reflect on the challenge, change, and complexity you experienced and to appreciate how you changed for the better, even if you would not have chosen the circumstances. The second aspect to this practice is to share these experiences generously, so that others might learn and benefit from our experience vicariously. The practice of ‘grati-osity’ is an important component of resilience becausethrough choosing to focus on gratitude and then generously sharing our stories of challenge with others, we solidify our own experience, lessons learned through our resilience and also give back by way of encouraging others. 

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# The Practice of Possibility

As with each practice prior to the practice of Possibility, there is a paradox inherent in each practice, and Possibility is no exception. The Practice of Possibility is about effectively navigating the polarity that exists between risk and opportunity. Resilient people who engage with the practice of Possibility are better able to resist perfection, and instead, focus on progress and possibility. The Practice of Possibility is key during times of stress because, by nature, stress makes us more myopic in how we think about the potential for possibility. However, by considering unique and novel ways to achieve a goal, we expand the aperture of how we create results, and leverage creativity to make our goals a reality, while also accurately appraising both risks and opportunities alongside one another. 

Did each of these practices make sense to you? What questions do you have about each practice? Ask them in our [Discord](https://discord.gg/qGNHMPpnxU)!

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If you or someone you know needs immediate help, please take a look at [these resources and help lines](/toolkit/helplines).

After working with hundreds of extraordinary leaders and collecting their answers, ‘The Five Practices of Particularly Resilient People’ emerged.

Practices of Particularly Resilient People

# Why Do We Face Challenge?
*2 min read*
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Many people believe that if we stay in our lanes and follow our life’s purpose, we shouldn’t face challenges. 

*That’s impossible.* 

Obstacles are placed in our path to form us. Challenge, change, and complexity can wear us down, but if we allow it, these experiences have the capacity to make us better over time. 

> *“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”* 
>
> – Maya Angelou

A life without challenge is like a potter without a wheel to form the clay. Obstacles do not detract from our formation as people. They are essential elements in our learning and growth. Challenge shows up even when we're exactly where we’re meant to be, doing exactly what we’re meant to do – sometimes especially when we’re on the right path and being exactly who we’re meant to be.

When we face challenges and don’t give up, when we stay the course, when we are unwavering in the face of these obstacles, we are given the opportunity to prove just how much we want something. In doing so, we earn the right to be ceded the resources, experience, and accomplishments we are pursuing. We prove just how much we want our dream to come true by demonstrating we will not give up on ourselves. 

The more challenges we face, the more important the work. And the more important the work, the more we are likely to face. When we begin to see challenging moments as opportunities to build, flex, and enhance our resilience muscles, then we see challenges not as a personal failing, not as a career limiting move, and not as an event that has befallen us because we are not “good enough”. Rather, a challenge becomes an invitation. We see challenge, instead, as the comma in the sentence asking us how much we want a particular goal or achievement, rather than a period at the end of the sentence. Wrapped in each one is an opportunity if we look for it.

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# How does challenge influence mental health & wellbeing?

It is also important to ensure that you have proper support in place prior to facing challenges. The onset of challenges makes it much more difficult to maintain healthy habits in your life, even if those habits appear to be concrete. When we face challenges, we are much more likely to engage in harmful behaviors that negatively impact our mental health and wellbeing. Being mindfully aware of this will help you bounce forward amidst the challenges you face in your life. 

Shifting your view of challenges through seeing them as opportunities will significantly improve your ability to face adversity. Facing challenges is an important part of our growth because we are the product of our past experiences. The circumstances you endure makes you the unique person you are today.

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If you or someone you know needs immediate help, please take a look at these [resources and help lines](/toolkit/helplines).

Many people believe that if we stay in our lanes and follow our life’s purpose, we shouldn’t face challenges. That’s impossible. Obstacles are placed in our path to form us. Challenge, change, and complexity can wear us down, but if we allow it, these experiences have the capacity to make us better over time.

Why Do We Face Challenge?

Audio interview with Su Lee

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Audio interview with Wayne Tucker 

Audio interview with Wezl of Moon Hooch

Audio interview with Noah Preminger

Audio interview with Julia Willinger 

Audio interview with Andrew Mishko

Audio interview with Reid Speed

Audio interview with Fernando Costa

Jessica shared how she was asked to change quintessential parts of herself in order to 'make it' when she first started out in the industry, and how those qualities that almost got erased ended up being the very things that lead to her success.

ISSUE 001: Resilience

An Interview with Uwade

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Human Experiences: Resilience