Talent and Pride: A deadly mixture.


Just sitting here thinking about some of my life experiences in regards to talent and pride and wanted to share them with you all. Hopefully somebody finds some encouragement from this!

From as early as I can remember, I've always been a talented person. At the tender age of 3, God blessed me with the ability to play music by ear. Over many years, through tons of ear training, he's cultivated that gift and enabled me to be able replicate the music in my head or existing music with precision. I have an advanced skill set that is a rarity amongst musicians and producers. But regardless of that skill set, I put humility above all. None of that makes me better than anyone. Being a musician for so long, i've been around alot of other musicians. I've seen many instances of pride. You ask for tips and they don't wanna give you any. During a set they turn up their amp so loud that nobody can hear you playing. You speak to them and they ignore you lol! From an early age I decided that no matter how talented I became, I would never be that way. That was one of the best decisions i've made in my life!

See no matter how talented you are, your attitude towards others is what determines how successful you will be. Many times I've seen how being humble has helped me career wise.  I've always known and understood that there are plenty of other people out there that are better than me musically. I stay FAR away from statements like "I'm the Best" or "Can't nobody see me" or any of those crazy statements because they're not true lol! Even in my advertising, I only stick to facts not prideful statements. My focus is only being the best that I can be as an individual, not being better than other people.

But being that I am blessed at what I do, I've also witnessed a different side of pride. Jealousy. When you are jealous of another persons gifting to the point of dislike, that is pride. I've had people treat me so mean in my lifetime and even spread lies purely out of jealousy and it boggles my mind every time! People fail to realize opportunites to grow! There are plenty of cats that can run circles around me musically. What I do is when I find an amazingly talented person, I don't get jealous. I pay attention and LEARN! This is one of the keys to my constant growth. I study them. I contact them and ask questions. That is what you are supposed to do! At that point you should be thinking "How can I learn how to do that." Being jealous is a fruitless emotion. It doesn't do anything but get you off track from what you are supposed to be doing. When you spend your time envying another persons lane, you will crash in your own.

People look at me crazy sometimes when I sell my beats so low and I give out so much information for practically free. They say, "Tone why are you selling yourself short?" My answer is, i'm not. See, before you can be in a high position of leadership, you must first be in a position of servanthood. Before I could ever be an A list producer working with all the "names", I must be willing to serve those without much of a "name." And I do that happily because it's all about impacting people at the end of the day. I love fascilitating the success of other people. You don't have to have a huge platform or a name to do that. Only humility.

I said all this to say make sure you're not being prideful in either boasting or jealousy. Both are fruitless and will lead to stagnation. Never be afraid of others becoming more successful than you (PRIDE). Instead, help them become successful (HUMILITY). And never be intimidated by and dislike someone who is already more succesful than you (PRIDE). Instead, learn from them (HUMILITY). Humility is key! Be blessed! -Tone



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