Define Success For Yourself

Cris Cohen: And then another bit of great advice that I got from reading through some of your materials online is… you said something along the lines of, “If you don't define success for yourself, you're pretty much lost.”

Chris Fryar of the Zac Brown Band: Well, it's true. In order to achieve anything, you have to set a goal. You can apply this to anything. Not just drumming or music. You have to set a goal. You have to define what it means to be successful.

This is probably my biggest soapbox I always get on, especially with young musicians. People ask me, “What's it like to finally be a successful musician?”

I tell them, “I've been a successful musician since I was about 17 years old.”

And they go, “Well, I've never heard of you before the Zac Brown Band.”

My definition of success and their definition of success are two totally different things. I've always defined success very clearly and concisely as: At the end of my tax forms every year, there's a box where you sign your name. To the right of that box there's another box that says “Occupation.” For me, success has been clearly defined as writing the word “Musician” in that box.
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So (for many years) I have been successful, because of the bulk of my living has come from making music.
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