no compromise

One of my favorite songs is by Keith Green. The line from it that I love is "I make my life, a prayer to you, I want to do what you want me to. No empty words and no white lies. No token prayers. No compromise." I know that not all of you share my religious beliefs, but I believe that whether you are speaking those words to your God or to yourself, they hold great meaning and importance.

When it comes to God, there can be no compromise. You cannot live a "Godly" life while also living without integrity. The two are mutually exclusive. Similarly, when living a life of quality, there can be no empty words and no white lies. Simply put, when it comes to yourself - and what is important to you, you cannot compromise.

When I say "no compromise", I don't mean to imply that we should be unbending and unwilling to change. Rather, I mean that if you want to achieve your goals, you have to have an unconditional commitment to yourself and to your goals. Success requires a commitment to succeed. It requires a constant diligence and effort towards your goals.

Living a life with goals is a bit like driving. When you drive, your wrist is (often unconsciously) constantly making small adjustments to the steering wheel to keep the car within the lanes. You may be going two blocks north, but road blocks may arise, you may have to take detours - but you can still get there if you persist, ask for directions occasionally, and constantly access where you are in relationship to where you want to be.

If you were driving to the store and found that a road was closed, you would just follow the detour signs, or turn around and take another route. You wouldn't give up and go home because you know that there is more than one route to your destination. You may have to go out of your way a bit, but you can get there. One aspect of not compromising when it comes to your life is not letting the detours distract you from your ultimate destination plan. Detours are a part of life. Often they pop up at the moment you least expect them. The difference between successful and failure is how you chose to react to the change in plans. You can give up and pout, or you can pull out the map and plan another route. That choice is yours.

Another way artists tend to compromise is to put their own goals and dreams behind those of others and their families. Because artistic success seems less "solid" than other more stoic professions, it can be tempting to put off what we want to do when something else comes up. We say, "after the kids are grown", or in my case "after my husband's business is established", etc. I am not saying that you should become selfish about your time or unwilling to help others. I am saying that you need to value your own goals as strongly as those around you, and even if it means an hour less sleep, or not watching TV, or giving up something else - to succeed you must make time for your own work, without excuses.

As artists we are often asked to compromise our own integrity in other ways. For example, by accepting less than we deserve, perhaps in terms of money or perhaps just in terms of respect or the way others treat us. When we were starting our business, there were many times that we accepted contracts from clients because we needed the money - even when we didn't feel comfortable with the client or the situation. My husband and I soon learned that we would have been better off not to do this, because the extra time and grief we dealt with on those contracts actually costs us more than if we had walked away and just looked for other work. We struck a deal with one another that we still adhere to. If we go into a meeting, and either one of us has a "bad feeling" or is uncomfortable with the customer, we walk away. No questions asked. We simply decline the business.

The effect of that decision on our business was immediate and profound. First, we felt that we were in more control of our destiny - we also felt a bit less desperate for business (even when matters were desperate in those early days and we were searching the couch for change to come up with the last few dollars for rent!). More importantly, we felt more respect for our own judgement. We determined that not just anyone could have us work for their company. We needed to be treated with respect - and if we didn't feel that we were treated that way, we walked - even when we couldn't afford it.
You know what happened? Our business began to succeed as never before. When we began to demand the respect that we deserved - and which we deserved because we went out of our way to provide exceptional value for what we charged - we began to receive that respect, and our clients began to tell others about our services. Word of mouth spread, and we never again had to look for change to pay our bills.

This month I encourage you to look at your own life. Are you giving your creative life the time it deserves? Are you demanding respect from others in your life for your work? (By demand, I don't mean being unreasonable; I mean standing up for what is right.) Take time to consider this, and take action to make any changes needed to bring this aspect of your life into balance. You will be amazed at the immediate affect of your actions.

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