Title: Preparing The Mental Approach To Succeed In Your Artistry For Indie Creatives Feat. Rick Goudzwaard

In this episode Durell is joined by musician, singer, and certified coach Rick Goudzwaard. Durell and Rick begin the episode by sharing how they got connected via Linkedin and that Rick really resonated with the content he shares daily which prompted him to want to reach out and begin to establish a rapport and build a relationship. Rick shares that he was first introduced to music by being introduced to record players in the early 60’s from a singer named James Dafney. He then learned to play guitar and by the age of 15 he traveled to coffee shops and learned how to sing. He then toured with a vocal band in a motorhome and traveled the states for a while and then his band was asked to go to Europe and perform in Cathedrals. Rick was also fortunate to visit places like Holland, Belgium and some great places in between the singing gigs. He shares a story about playing at a middle school on a wooden stage playing a mandolin. He remembers being a wild man on the stage and wearing a green polyester suit that ripped while he was having a great time on stage.

Rick shares after the overseas tour he decided to leave the band for good to start a new journey as a school counselor in which he did for 25 years. He shares that while spending many years as a school counselor he still kept up with what was going on in the DIY space and released a few albums here recently pre-pandemic to keep his creative juices flowing. Durell and Rick also speak about his time as an adjunct college professor teaching courses in adolescent and human development. He also taught for many of the school districts where he lived teaching behavior management with kids as well as a stress management consultant.. He also taught again at the college level teaching marriage and family studies and youth studies.

Rick shares that he decided to learn about professional coaching in 2009. He saw that coaching was much different from what he had done as a counselor. He found a school where he learned how to become a professional certified coach. He shares that the course he took was much harder than what the coursework was for his masters degree. He then began to coach people on various different subjects like relationships, jobs, parenting etc. After he retired a few years ago, Rick decided that he wanted to narrow his coaching focus down to music. He wanted to talk to musicians about the things that they were struggling with that was getting in the way of them achieving their goals. Rick shares that his coaching philosophy is about getting really clear about the vision of what an artist wants to achieve as their big goal. He shares that he is not a mentor or the expert but that he and his clients work together in partnership because Rick feels that everyone is an expert. Rick's goal is to make sure that his clients are able to move forward after working with him with the utmost confidence as they move toward their goals.

Rick shares about the importance of having the knowledge of the business and a base of a solid foundation. He shares that so many musicians crash and burn because they try to go from zero to sixty and because they don’t reach their goals quickly enough they quit. Rick shares artist development as so much more than teaching someone how to sing and the things that come along with being an artist but he says that it’s even more about personal and professional development. He shares that being able to communicate well is such an important skill in artist development. Durell and Rick talk about how so many artists are looking for the golden ticket and hoping someone discovers them and that just most of the time isn’t the case. Durell and Rick talk about having a strong mental approach to achieve the goals that an artist sets out for themselves.

Rick and Durell end the episode discussing Rick’s 5 areas that he works with artists on and he starts with the base of the pyramid being authenticity. Rick shares that he wants his clients to be able to know who they are. What the values, strengths, weaknesses and beliefs are for his clients to be able to know is such a key for their success. Rick talks about branding being a major key as well as being able to develop a solid fanbase. Rick shares that finding a tribe of supporters is extremely important and being able to build a community will often make the difference for most artists. Rick also talks about the difference between intentions and goals. Intentions are all about seeing the bigger picture and an artist's life vision. Being able to identify the journey that you are on. Rick gives the example of walking along a mountain side and you see a clump of trees and that being the goal that they set for themselves as an artist. As they walk alongside they encounter a landslide and getting over the boulders will not be an option. Most people would quit in that scenario rather than realizing that goals can morph and be molded into other goals. The intention is about enjoying the journey because you can always create new goals along the way. Rick then talks about creating an action plan for the artist. The title of Rick’s course is “Up & Coming Musicians Workshop: Kickstart Your Music Career”. Durell and Rick talk about what’s so great about the music marketplace today is that age doesn’t really matter because if you're just doing tracks the cost to make a record isn’t as high. Rick also talks about how he works with hobbyists who don’t want to make a full time income from music but they really need someone to hold them accountable to get their creativity into the marketplace.

Mindset is everything in order to achieve success. Rick shares that he often asks questions to his clients that will challenge their belief systems and get the negative thoughts that create obstacles for them. He makes sure to keep his clients accountable by making a point to check in with them to make sure they are staying in tune with their goals and getting things done.

For more info on Rick Goudzwaard, please visit his website:

https://www.professionalartistcoaching.com/