So I was sitting on my couch yesterday afternoon watching one of my favorite Gary Vaynerchuk clips on Youtube and decided to listen to some tunes. For some reason, I came across a concert video from an old school metal band (I used to be a headbanger in high school!) and started watching it.

And as it starts to play, my eyes become glued to the screen and I’m totally entranced. I can feel my heart start to race and am overcome with an overpowering sense of inspiration; just raw emotion. It’s hard to put the exact feeling into words but I know it was a feeling I rarely have.

And within moments, I feel tears streaming down my face and I have 2 immediate thoughts:

  1. Why the fuck am I crying listening to a Slayer song?
  2. I want to have this kind of impact on people!

Now, I’ll admit that I do cry from time to time (and most notably when I watch Seven Pounds), but never have I been moved so emotionally by music, let alone by heavy metal.

Here is the video I was watching

 

Now if you haven’t covered your ears and left yet, I’m sure you’re asking yourself how in the hell someone could not only listen to this shit, but how they could actually find it emotionally moving.

If you watch this video the whole way through (at least start at the 1:10 mark), you will see the raw power not only of their music, but the power that they have over their audience. There are tens of thousands of screaming fans all wishing that they could some day be like the rock stars on stage in front of them.

I myself was a bit thrown off by the fact that it got to me so much. But to understand why, you first have to know a few things about me:

  • In school, I was kind of an outcast. I didn’t have any real friends or belong to any cliques, so I ended up hanging around with the degenerate metal heads. I was the kid with greasy long hair who wore the Levi’s jean jacket with the evil looking back patch sewn onto it. I was also the kid who hung out in the courtyard with all the smokers and underachievers (although I’ve never smoked).
  • I identify with this music. I lost myself in heavy metal for years and when I listen to it, I am taken back to that time. Not that it’s a particularly great time in my life, but I can see myself sitting on my twin bed in my mother’s small apartment, listening to my newly purchased cassette tape from Rockit Records on my Sony walkman.
  • I am not a devil worshiping freak or anything like that. In fact, I don’t care for their message or their lyrics, but what I do admire is their powerful stage presence, heart pumping riffs, and their ability to get 50,000 people off their asses and bang their fucking heads!

And to understand why this is so meaningful to me, you have to watch the following video (or endure as much as you can).

 

When you watch the second video, you see this band at their very beginning. There are literally maybe 20 people watching them as they begin to play their new brand of thrash metal.

Their story is an amazing one. They had a vision to take heavy metal to a new level, a level that had been set by bands like Metallica, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden. They played in garages, empty clubs, rat infested shit holes, and anywhere that would give them the time and the opportunity to show what they could do.

And in just a few short years, they had started to develop a loyal following. The reason was not just that their music was unique and that they were talented musicians, but also because they had a vision and they had incredible passion. These four guys lived for their music and to create an incredible, fist pumping and head banging experience for their audience.

And they did exactly that.

Their notoriety rose quickly by being true to who they were. They lived, breathed, and slept Slayer. They toured the world, got big name record deals, and took their brand mainstream. And they are still doing it 20 years later.

And if you are unfamiliar with Slayer, keep in mind that this isn’t some cut rate group of dirtbags. Their record sales are more than $20 million dollars and they are considered to be one of the top 10 greatest metal bands in history. They also have been cited as one of the most influential bands in heavy metal history.

And I thought about all of this yesterday and realized that their story is the story of determination and resounding passion. And in my opinion, it parallels the life of the up and coming blogger, the former employee turned entrepreneur, and the brand new business owner. The person that I am.

There is hope. We can live our passions.

And the real reason I got so emotional yesterday was that this is how I want to live my life.

As an aspiring online entrepreneur, I realize that I must start with just a few fans. I realize that in order to reach the level of success I want, I must be willing to pour my heart out into creating something awesome. I realize that it may take years of grueling hours sitting behind my laptop writing for an audience that may or may not be there. And I realize that I will never succeed without first helping people get what they want.

And I’m going after it.

My dream is to inspire as many people as I possibly can. I want people to watch me or read my writing with the same fervor that Slayer’s fans have for them. Their fans travel halfway across the planet just to see a 2 hour concert, they wait in line for 16 hours to get the best seats, and they buy everything that they produce because they are diehard fans who know that they will get every penny’s worth and much more.

Becoming a Rock Star

rock star

If I had even one ounce of musical ability or talent, maybe I would pursue the life of a real rock star, but I don’t. I wrote off being an actual rock star when I was 16 and took guitar lessons playing my used cherry red, Fender knockoff electric guitar. I still feel sorry for my teacher, who had to endure my tone deafness and inability to play even the most basic chords.

I want to be a rock star in an entirely different light. I want be the guy who can inspire thousands (dare I say millions) to change they way they think about life. I want to be the guy who comes to mind when people think of living a passionate life. I want to be the guy who helps people understand that life is too fucking short to waste away an a mind numbingly boring job.

You’ve heard me say it many times before, but I do believe my calling is to help and inspire people through my writing. I may not be the best speaker, get nervous as shit in front of a room, and have a hard time taking charge in a group setting. But what I can do and do very well is write in a way that connects deeply with others.

And that’s my plan for 2014 and beyond….

Going After It

I haven’t shared the most recent changes in my life, of which there are some big ones, and I plan to do that in my next post, which I will publish on Monday, March 3/31. Until then, I hope that you will think about the message of my post today and even more importantly……..have become a Slayer fan!!!!!

And by the way, this is the Gary V video I was watching. Take the 15 minutes to watch it all because it’s incredibly motivating and may have the same impact on you that it had on me.

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