Journal 010: OUTWORK. OUTSMART.

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Ten.

I’ve been thinking about what I wanted Journal 010 to be about.

And considering this is the tenth one, I wanted to write about something that I’ve come to believe more strongly the longer I’ve been in this game.

Outwork. Outsmart.

Something I’ve heard said a thousand times.

Something that sounds like a cliché until you’ve actually lived it.

And after nearly 30 years around music, I don’t think it’s a cliché anymore.

I think it’s one of the most important realities of trying to build anything for yourself.

You have to work.

Not occasionally.

Not when you feel motivated.

Not when the algorithm is behaving itself.

Not when you’ve got a release coming.

Not when someone has shown interest.

You have to keep fucking working.

And, increasingly, I believe you need to be one of the hardest-working people in the room.

⸻

Talent matters.

Of course it does.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you talent doesn’t matter.

Develop your craft.

Learn your instrument.

Learn production.

Learn engineering.

Learn songwriting.

Learn your business.

Become technically excellent.

Become creatively interesting.

Develop your ears.

Develop your taste.

Develop your identity.

Talent matters.

But talent is only one part of the equation.

Because I’ve met incredibly talented people who never really got anywhere.

And I’ve met people who perhaps weren’t the most naturally gifted person in the room who built something extraordinary.

Why?

Because they kept showing up.

They kept learning.

They kept improving.

They kept making connections.

They kept creating.

They kept asking questions.

They kept putting themselves in positions where opportunities could happen.

And when an opportunity appeared, they were ready for it.

⸻

Talent is potential.

Work ethic is execution.

That’s the difference.

You can have the greatest musical ear in the world.

But if you’re sitting at home waiting for someone to discover you, what exactly is that talent doing for you?

You can be an incredible producer.

But if nobody hears your music, what’s happening with it?

You can be an amazing engineer.

But if nobody knows you exist, how are clients supposed to find you?

You can have the best business idea in the world.

But if you don’t actually execute it, it’s just an idea.

There is an uncomfortable truth here:

Being good isn’t enough.

You have to do something with being good.

⸻

And that’s where work ethic comes in.

I’ve never been particularly interested in the idea of waiting for things to happen.

I’ve always wanted to make things happen.

That’s not me saying I’ve always got it right.

I’ve fucked things up.

I’ve made bad decisions.

I’ve wasted time.

I’ve taken wrong turns.

I’ve had things fail.

I’ve had periods where I’ve absolutely smashed it and periods where I’ve wondered what the hell I was doing.

That’s life.

That’s business.

That’s music.

But one thing has always been there:

I work.

And I don’t necessarily mean sitting in front of a computer for fourteen hours.

That’s not what I’m talking about.

Working means moving something forward.

Maybe that’s creating music.

Maybe it’s contacting someone.

Maybe it’s learning something.

Maybe it’s improving your website.

Maybe it’s making content.

Maybe it’s following up a lead.

Maybe it’s applying for something.

Maybe it’s building a relationship.

Maybe it’s practising.

Maybe it’s fixing something that isn’t working.

Maybe it’s simply figuring out what the fuck you’re doing next.

But something moves.

⸻

And here’s the bit people don’t like.

You need to be honest with yourself about how much time you’re actually putting into your career.

Not how much you think you’re working.

Not how passionate you feel.

Not how many ideas you’ve got.

What are you actually doing?

How many hours are you genuinely putting into it?

How many opportunities are you creating?

How many people are you speaking to?

How many things are you releasing?

How much are you learning?

How often are you putting yourself out there?

How often are you following something up?

How often are you improving your offer?

How often are you looking at what’s happening around you and adapting?

Because somebody else is doing all of that.

That’s the uncomfortable bit.

While you’re thinking about doing something…

someone else is doing it.

While you’re waiting until you’re ready…

someone else is learning in public.

While you’re worrying about whether your idea is good enough…

someone else has already launched theirs.

While you’re waiting for the perfect opportunity…

someone else has created one.

And they don’t necessarily have more talent than you.

They might simply be working harder.

⸻

But I said something else.

I said:

Outwork. Outsmart.

Because working hard isn’t enough either.

You can spend 100 hours doing something completely pointless.

That’s not productivity.

That’s exhaustion.

I’ve learned over the years that there is a huge difference between working hard and working intelligently.

You need both.

You need the willingness to put the hours in.

But you also need to ask:

Are these the right hours?

Are you spending three hours perfecting something nobody cares about?

Are you spending another week tweaking a track that should have been released?

Are you posting content because you enjoy making it, or because it actually serves a purpose?

Are you chasing opportunities that make sense for you?

Are you spending money in the right places?

Are you trying to build a career around something that people actually want?

Are you learning skills that increase your value?

Are you talking to people who can genuinely help you grow?

Are you still doing things because that’s how the industry used to work?

Or are you adapting?

Because the hardest-working person in the room isn’t necessarily the person who never stops.

Sometimes they’re the person who knows exactly what to stop doing.

⸻

That’s smart work.

And I think this is becoming increasingly important.

The music industry has changed dramatically since I started.

The routes are different.

The technology is different.

The way people discover music is different.

The way people communicate is different.

The way people build audiences is different.

The way people sell things is different.

The way people learn is different.

And the people who refuse to adapt because:

“That’s not how we used to do it.”

are going to struggle.

You don’t have to like every new trend.

You don’t have to use every platform.

You don’t have to dance around on TikTok.

You don’t have to use AI.

You don’t have to follow whatever the latest bullshit is.

But you do need to understand what’s happening.

Because ignoring change doesn’t stop change.

⸻

And this is where I think a lot of people get confused about success.

They imagine success is some enormous destination.

The record deal.

The million streams.

The festival headline.

The big studio.

The six-figure income.

The blue tick.

The huge following.

The celebrity clients.

Maybe that’s success for some people.

But it isn’t necessarily success for everyone.

Maybe success is earning £500 a month from your music.

Maybe it’s £1,500.

Maybe it’s £3,000.

Maybe it’s enough to reduce your hours at your day job.

Maybe it’s enough to go freelance.

Maybe it’s enough to pay your mortgage.

Maybe it’s enough to buy yourself some freedom.

Maybe it’s simply being able to wake up and spend more of your life doing something you actually care about.

That’s success too.

And that is important because it makes this conversation much more realistic.

You don’t have to become a millionaire.

You have to build something that works for you.

⸻

But nobody owes you that.

That’s the other uncomfortable bit.

Nobody owes you an audience.

Nobody owes you a record deal.

Nobody owes you a client.

Nobody owes you streams.

Nobody owes you a career.

Nobody owes you success because you’ve been making music for ten years.

And nobody owes you success because you’re talented.

You have to build something people want.

And then you have to keep building it.

That’s not particularly romantic.

But it’s reality.

⸻

I’ve seen this throughout my entire career.

The people who keep moving tend to create more opportunities.

Not always.

Life isn’t that simple.

Sometimes incredibly hard-working people get nowhere.

Sometimes incredibly lucky people get everything handed to them.

Sometimes circumstances completely derail somebody’s plans.

I’m not pretending otherwise.

But you cannot build your strategy around luck.

You can’t control whether somebody discovers you.

You can’t control whether the algorithm pushes your video.

You can’t control whether a label emails you tomorrow.

You can’t control whether somebody books you.

But you can control whether you’re ready.

You can control whether you’re improving.

You can control whether you’re putting work out.

You can control whether you’re learning.

You can control whether you’re making connections.

You can control whether you’re adapting.

And you can control whether you keep going.

⸻

So ask yourself a different question.

Don’t ask:

“Why hasn’t it happened for me yet?”

Ask:

“What am I doing today that increases the probability of it happening?”

That’s a completely different mindset.

One is waiting.

The other is building.

And that’s ultimately what I mean when I say:

Outwork. Outsmart.

Don’t just sit there hoping your talent will eventually be noticed.

Don’t spend your entire life waiting for somebody else to validate you.

Don’t confuse being busy with being productive.

And don’t mistake passion for a business model.

Learn your craft.

Become good.

Become fucking good.

Then work harder than the people around you.

And while you’re doing that, get smarter about what you’re actually spending your time on.

Because the game isn’t necessarily about who has the most talent.

It’s about who can consistently turn their talent into something.

Something real.

Something useful.

Something people want.

Something sustainable.

Something that moves.

⸻

Nearly 30 years in, this is what I believe.

I don’t think you need to be the most talented person in the room.

I don’t think you need to be the most connected.

I don’t think you need to have the most money.

I don’t think you need the biggest following.

And I certainly don’t think you need to have everything figured out.

But I’d rather walk into a room knowing that I am prepared to work harder than anyone else there.

And I’d rather combine that work ethic with the ability to look around the room and ask:

“What actually makes sense here?”

Because that’s where the power is.

Work harder.

Think harder.

Learn faster.

Adapt.

Keep moving.

And if you don’t get the result you wanted?

Learn from it.

Change direction.

Go again.

Because ultimately, you cannot guarantee success.

But you can make damn sure that you’re not the reason you didn’t give yourself a chance.

That’s the bit I can bet my life on.

After nearly 30 years in this game, I’ve seen enough to know:

Talent opens doors.

Work ethic gets you through them.

Smart thinking keeps you moving.

And sometimes, the person who eventually gets there isn’t the person who was the most talented at the beginning.

It’s the person who simply refused to stop building.

⸻

Raff Di Renzo

Fouder, Eleven One One Audio