We recently connected with Cliff Beach and have shared our conversation below.
Cliff, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us today. We’re excited to dive into your story and your work, but first let’s start with a broader topic that might be stopping many of our readers from pursuing their dreams – haters, nay-sayers, etc. How have you managed to persist despite haters and nay-sayers that inevitably follow folks who are doing something unique, special or off the beaten path?
Zig Ziglar said “No one builds a statue to a critic.” I have learned to persist despite the haters, and nay-sayers by going through rejection therapy. Essentially when you are putting yourself out there more often you will face more rejection than the average person. When I was kicked off American Idol early in my career I joined an elite club of people who lost on reality TV who eventually found other paths to make their dreams come true. I realized that my dream wasn’t to win Idol, I just wanted to amplify my message. It took me many tries to eventually figure out my own pathway to success but I can appreciate that it is one unique to me, made on my own terms and forged by my own sweat equity. Haters are gonna hate but you just have to tune them out. Not everyone has earned the right to speak into your life and ultimately you are the captain of your ship and the master of your fate. You get to decide what you will become and no one can take from you what’s meant for you!
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m a natural born side hustler. I have worked a full time job while simultaneously working on music full time for over 20 years in Los Angeles. In 2013, I decided to start releasing new content under my own name Cliff Beach and wanted to make 10 albums in 10 years which I did from 2013-2022. I decided in 2020 to document as a pandemic, bucket list project my story into a book, Side Hustle & Flow which has been turned into a mini documentary on YouTube and an online video course on Udemy. I try to help all types of people understand that they have limitless potential if they are life long learners and to adopt a growth mindset. I encourage them to have more passion, purpose-filled lives, to ask self-reflection questions, seek out mentors and learn to set goals while better managing themselves and their time. I never tell people to do what I did and you’ll be successful as I think that’s impossible but instead I want to help them learn how to think, plan, prepare and execute for themselves!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
You must feel the fear and do it anyway. Fear of failure or looking foolish keeps so many from living and pursuing their dreams. You can’t pretend you are never afraid, you must accept fear is a natural response, but as you move closer to what scares you the most, often it isn’t as bad as we thought and most of what we fear is only in our heads, it never materializes. Resilience is a muscle that can only be exercised by resistance. A problemless life is not worth living. Problems make you stronger by coming up with solutions and asking questions or asking for help. Perseverance is going past the feeling to want to quit and the desire to do the thing you love isn’t there. These three attributes help me significantly in my journey. If I had any advice to help a newbie it would be to start and start early. You have to make mistakes and get out of your comfort zone to succeed. You also have to prove how bad you want it and your why must be very compelling to see it through and you must be willing to make the sacrifice daily to make your dreams come true. No one else can do it for you and no one else will do it for you.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
Pema Chodron’s Fail, Fail again, Fail better book was one that called out to me from the bookshelf and I read it in one sitting. It is a graduation commencement speech and interview in book form. It was great to hear a Buddhist monk discuss openly failures like her two failed marriages that ended in divorce especially as I had went through two break ups in twelve months. It gave me a lot of clarity and introspection as I realized nobody has it altogether. At the same time I had only done the first half, fail, fail again. It was the fail better back half that changed my perspective. I had the opportunity to begin again and do things differently. I also learned to give myself some grace and be human. Failure is not final, nor fatal.
Contact Info:
- Website: Sidehustleandflow.net
- Instagram: Instagram.com/cliffbeachmusic
- Facebook: Facebook.com/cliffbeachmusic
- Twitter: Twitter.com/cliffbeachmusic
- Youtube: YouTube.com/cliffbeachmusic
- Other: Californiasoulmusic.com
Image Credits
Sheldon Botler ImageStricken
