Meet Nick Phelps

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nick Phelps a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nick, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
This may sound funny, but a big part of building up my confidence was telling strangers at the drive-thru window I loved them. The reactions were great and helped me feel comfortable in awkward situations. Besides that, I would honestly say practice. When I take a look back at my old Facebook videos from 3-5 years ago, trying to market myself as a producer and artist, I can tell I was very uncomfortable. As I kept doing it and putting myself in an uncomfortable situation where I would have to lead or publically speak, my confidence continued to build and build. Now, I have no hesitation in going live on social media, jumping on stage to Emcee a show, or speaking on a panel. After five years of consistently doing it, its become like second nature.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
First and foremost, I am a loving husband and father of four. I am also a rapper, music producer, chaplain, and mentor for aspiring music producers. My mission is to inspire and motivate others to believe in themselves to make their dreams a reality. My music can be heard on Adobe, BET, CW, MTV, NBC, Nordstrom Rack, Paramount+, Sony, USA, and more. It still feels surreal, stating all the places my music can be heard on. That was once an inconceivable dream of mine.

My focus for 2024 is to continue to grow my music production academy, “Make That Sh!t Modern Academy”. In my academy, I teach a simplistic approach to music production while giving mindset hacks to encourage the learners to believe in themselves.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three of the most critical skills I had to learn were consistency, a strong work ethic, and believing in myself. These three skills allowed me to dial in and focus on my end goal. Being consistent means that if I set a goal to wake up every day at five AM for a week to finish a project, I will honor that commitment. Overall, consistency is a commitment to running the marathon, setting small goals along the way to give me that boost to keep at it.

Believing in myself was the most significant component of all. That was the fuel that kept me up at night, creating, consistently posting content, and putting myself out there.

My advice to anyone chasing a dream is there are no shortcuts. You will have to wake up and do the work; eventually, it will become a reality. You have to fall in love with the journey. Recognize you are learning, building character, building resilience, and becoming the person who will be able to handle the dream once it becomes a reality.

Lastly, give yourself lots of grace and recognize your journey is unique to you. So, for the love of God, do not compare yourself to anyone or fall into the social media trap. Run your God-given race.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
One of my biggest hacks is breaking everything down into small chunks. This enables me to compartmentalize my mind and focus one step at a time rather than being paralyzed from looking at the big picture. This is how I make music, write, clean, etc. I don’t allow my mind to focus on anything or go beyond the steps I am in. It’s how I teach my students music production as well. It keeps things fun and exciting. When working on the drums, I do not think about melody, arranging, mixing, etc. I am solely focused on the drums.

Another thing I do is set timers. I give myself a certain amount of time to work on a project. Sometimes, it’s an hour, two hours, or even 30 minutes. Setting timers gives me permission to focus my mind until that timer goes off guilt-free. When the timer goes off, I stop, and I feel great knowing I spent some time chipping away at the bigger picture, which motivates me to tackle more the next day, maybe the same day if time allows.

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