Have you ever shied away from pursuing a niche? From focusing your business on just one market, company type, or deliverable?

If so, I highly recommend the latest episode of Jonathan Stark and Rochelle Moulton’s The Business of Authority, titled “In Defense of Repetition.”

They often talk about the benefits of choosing a niche on this podcast, but there was something ineffably sparkly about this go around. Plus, it included this banger of a quote:

“Repetition is what allows you to relax during the performance.”

As a lifelong musician and now rather out-of-practice performer, this really clicked.

I’ve written and co-written dozens of songs over the last 30 years. But there’s only one I would confidently launch into if you handed me a guitar and said, “Play me one of your songs, James.”

It’s probably not the best one (though it’s top 5, for sure), but it’s definitely the one I’ve played the most.

It’s also the only one I’ve recorded twice, the only one I’ve performed as often solo as with a band, and the only one that would sometimes get yelled out as a request from the audience.

The reason I’d pick it is that I’m confident I can pull it off.

I know I’ll remember all the words, chords, and changes and not get fatigued along the way. And I know people usually like it, so I can relax before, during, and after the performance.

There’s the performance of doing your thing, yes.

But then there’s the almost even more important performance of confidently selling your thing, of knowing you can deliver what you offer.

And that’s always better done relaxed.

Rock on,
James