Submitted by Sabina Hitchen on | 0 Comments
I'll admit it. I watched Justin Timberlake - and the rest of the MTV Video Music Awards including the spectacle that was Miley Cyrus - while I waited with bated breath for NSYNC (a childhood crush) to reunite. I'll also admit that while I wanted to snark about him as I had done with most of the show up to that point, I couldn't. Why? Well to be quite honest, I thought he did a spectacular job. He performed live, he performed flawlessly and oh my goodness can that man dance. He was confident, his moves were tight, he owned the stage and it was almsot difficult to remember that back in the "NSYNC Era" of my life, Justin was the member that was "yours" (the t-shirt you got to wear, the one you pretended you would marry) if you didn't "call" another member fast enough. We all remember early-days Justin: curly hair, ridiculous outfits, voice that was just leaving puberty. He was the runt of the group and I was not going to be his pretend girlfriend.
While explaining the intricacies of my NSYNC devotion to my befuddled fiance it dawned on me: Justin's trajectory from the stages of Star Search (which he lost by the way) to his NSYNC boy band days to his epic solo career is chock full of business lessons. It actually served as some late night inspiraiton to me as an entrepreneur and I hope it will do the same for you today.
Here are my favorite takeaways from the JT School of Making It:
#1 - Don't let your past failures dictate how you believe your future will be:
If you're old enough to remember Star Search you'll know that it was MAJOR. Justin could have lost and thought, "Man, I guess that's it. I did not get those four stars everyone covets." But he didn't. Instead he went on to land a role on the Mickey Mouse Club, and the rest is history. That gal who beat him? I don't even remember her name...
#2 - Just Because You're Not the Lead Singer in the Band Now, Doesn't Mean You'll be Back Up (or Sharing the Spotlight) Forever:
Clearly Justin wasn't the star of NSYNC when the band hit in 1995. He was the young one, the one with the bad hair, the slightly awkward one. You wouldn't have looked at the band and said "well that Justin, he's going to be huge someday." But I bet Justin thought that. And slowly he transformed into that person, and by 2000 I'd say he was well aware he had become the "lead singer" of that band. If you ever particpate in our #TuneUps you hear me say that you must be the lead singer in your own band and be loud and proud about it if you want to make it. Obviously that's a symbol for really claiming the spotlight without fear and owning the stage of your life and business. If you're not there yet don't worry. Let JT be a lesson to you...your time will come. If you...
#3 - Do Not Believe the Naysayers. Believe Your Hype:
Remember when Justin finally went solo? He started performing with his guitar and piano, he put himeslf out there, he left the band that had made him who he was in many ways (at least in the public's eyes), and people talked. And it wasn't always favorable. In fact even now, with all of his success, they still do. People love to give their own opinion about what you do and how you do it, and the bigger you get, the more people will have opinions on it. Despite his Grammys, Emmys and yes VMAs, peope still have "hate" for Justin. But does he cry in the corner or throw in the fedora? Heck no! He believes his hype, he keeps working hard, he clearly follows his passions, and he obviously loves what he does. Critcs me damned. He loves it and he performs it with confidence.
#4 - He Works HARD:
No I don't hang out with Justin as he rehearses nor do I have an insider's view into his daily routine, but I can promise you that man works hard. When I watched him dance last night (again, flawlessly) and observed him own the Barclay's center I even said it out loud, "MAN does he work hard." Great things don't come with out it. There is no shortcut to fabulous. You don't put on an amazing show or turn out an amazing business with out it. Sure you can still have fun (every step of the way), but to think that you will be epic or semi-epic or even do well enough to pay your bills and go on vacations supported by your own business, well you're just going to have to work very hard. You have to perfect your moves, the choreography of your own business operations, train your business voice, face challenges, learn from failures...How hard will you have to work? Why don't we let Justin (in his own words, from his Playboy interview) tell you:
“I think people sometimes don’t pay enough attention to what they do. I’ve done well, but the reason is pretty simple: I’ve worked my ass off. Anything I’ve done well has taken many, many hours of preparation. And then the trick, of course, is making that work look invisible.”
