Thursday, March 25, 2010

Beware of the junk in the yard!

Paged through Robin Crow’s book Jump and the Net Will Appear…came across mind stumbling quote: Those who walk a crooked path can’t think straight.



Say it three times: Those who walk a crooked path can’t think straight.

Those who walk a crooked path can’t think straight.

Those who walk a crooked path can’t think straight.



So whatcha doing today?



I wrote three pages before sunrise, show prepped for the radio show from 10 til 3, do pushups, will voice a movie trailer for a company out of Chicago, write and produce umpteen commercials for local businesses, do more pushups, rewrite wedding vows for Daisy and Jeff that’ll be shared in two weeks, get in another round of pushups, race to Tae Kwon Do, catch the new Miley Cyrus/Nicholas Sparks premiere then do my reports for the movie company.



Those who walk a crooked path can’t think straight.



Wait a minute! I think straight! Nobody is more focused than me! Ask me what I did yesterday! Seriously…I have no clue, except I have some major league sized bruises on my forearm, right hand and on the upper inner side of my right bicep.


Those who walk a crooked path can’t think straight.



I’ve spent an entire career busting tail on the idea that everything I do is somehow connected to a core energy source. For me to have success in radio I need to write and that requires daily practice. Painting on a canvas is for those moments when the boss says I’m being too creative…it’s gotta come out somewhere! Movie premieres are the tool that keep me up to date, voice work keeps the career valuable and so on and so on.



Those who walk a crooked path can’t think straight. Ask me what I did yesterday! Seriously…I have no clue.



Robin Crow believes a path with many outlets creates confusion…success can’t be located if you’re required to be everywhere but up on top, which seems like an old fashioned statement to make in a world that demands multitasking.



I don’t know what the keyword is when it comes to landing the perfect job. I tried for a year in a half to piece back together a radio career and came up 100 miles from the origin of my goals. Rather than kicking the bucket while tossing a king sized fit, I looked at it as being an incredible opportunity to rediscover a new beginning.



It’s always been my passion to find one thing in life: To be in the right place at the right time.



The moment I convinced myself that radio was over—an incredible chance to help write and produce radio commercials opened its arms and screamed, “Get your sorry tail over here and let’s make history!” Being away from the biz blessed me with the entire picture…it’s always been my plan to physically invite impact to a listener’s life. Three decades of being a jock and I learned the bigger message isn’t found over a seven second intro of a song but rather between the songs.



Unless it makes you laugh on a low morning or afternoon, DJ’s rarely say anything that affects your life—it’s the commercials that put flow into your reasons to go. Blame that boogie on Oprah who convinced millions of her fans to pick up the book The Secret. Understanding what you do during your everyday and how it brings energy to another person’s life makes you love what you do more. If there aren’t any feelings…challenge yourself to locate that inner wants and needs and become part of the entire community.



So what does that have to do with: those who walk a crooked path can’t think straight?



As mindless as your workday might feel or the lack thereof…getting to the top of your personal company ladder requires only one ticket—willingness.



To be in the right place at the right time has me everywhere. That’s my chosen life and style and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Sadly in Tae Kwon Do last night…I couldn’t find the courage to fly over Instructor George with something that’s as common as my passion to write everyday. Doing an extremely easy as ever front roll became my impossibility. The more I tried, the harder I was on myself. The more I screamed at the inner being the less I wanted to participate. If you haven’t got encouragement from the person that brings you to every party…the end result is the opportunity to shut down. I didn’t get to see the results show on American Idol which affects my radio show today.



Those who walk a crooked path can’t think straight.



I’m not going to tap the letters that spell out the words, “I’m not alone.” One look at our daily workday environments and the actors we think we are can no longer keep up the fake act. You’re tired, confused, ¼ of your gas tank is filled with vigor while the rest is set on just giving up.



Do you know what happens to junked up cars that don’t make it to those lonely old fields on the edge of town? My stepfather Joe would cut em up and sell the metal. How many times during an average week do you stare into those set of eyes in the bathroom mirror and wonder how much more can you take?



I ached when Joe would wrap his hands around the handle of that blow torch and cut into the soul of a Mustang, Camero, Dodge Dart, Roadrunner or even that classic Edsel, the most overrated under purchased car of all time. It was if each vehicle had laid down their love of the land and said, “I can’t take this highway anymore.”



Walking a crooked path is the way of our modern state, thinking straight is based on the final outcome of the products you deliver. Do we have the knowledge to make your engines run without a skip or putter? What’s the best way to get a tune up without putting sugar in the gas tank?



Know what you want then get it.

95% of the interns that come into my studio wanting to become part of this business have no problem explaining to me why they want to play radio, “Because it seems like a cool job.”



400 intern hours with me and their view is 100% on you. This isn’t a job…it’s an opportunity to keep your engine purring or we’re all headed over to Joe’s house.



Now get back to work!



arroecollins@clearchannel.com

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