Elevate Your Life: The Sound of Success

What are you listening to right now?

What CD’s do you have in your car?

What do you throw on when you workout?

What you listen to has an effect on how you FEEL and screening your music is KEY to staying positive and fending off depression.

I had a coaching client who was constantly angry.

Little things would cause him to flip out.

One day I was at his house and while we hung out I looked through his music collection. 

Ding ding ding! 

Everything in his music collection was death metal music.

He turned on one of his favorite songs and even I started to feel agitated.

I gave him a simple task: switch what he was listening to, to more positive music for just 1 week.

He was smart and he did as I asked.

A week later he told me, “Dude, I don’t feel as angry anymore and while I normally get depressed easily I have been feeling happier”.

This came as no surprise to me.

The music he was feeding into his brain every single day for years fueled his depressing and angry thoughts.

Thoughts of killing himself.

Thoughts that all women are bitches.

Thoughts that life is simply too hard.

While I enjoy some rock and roll, there’s a big difference between Rolling Stones and Slayer.

It doesn’t have to be death metal either.

Country music can be great, but damn if some of the songs aren’t written by beta bitch boys with severe cases of one-itis.

Same goes for some of the new rap.

Where rappers were once hyper-masculine in lyrics, it’s now about them pining over one girl.

Not all music is created equal.

What you think about is what you become.

If you think about depressing shit, you will become depressed.

If you think about positivity and put forth positive actions… you will feel and be positive.

Do an inventory of what you’re listening to in your life.

It’s not just about music.

Do you have negative friends you talk to on a daily basis?

Is there a family member who calls you and drags you down?

Are you listening to yourself and are you constantly looping negative self-talk?

Change it.

Switch your music.

Cut off these ‘friends’.

Schedule time for family members that won’t drag you down before you work on an important project.

And most importantly, nix the negative self–talk.

Be your own best cheerleader.

Be your own best friend.

Cut out all the negative influences in your life… that you listen to… and watch how your depression turns into happiness… and how your hopelessness turns into thankfulness.

Until next time.

Your man,

-Elijah “The Realist”