The Biggest Lies Every Music Artist Believes...
Like every other artist or every other human you have a voice or voices inside your head.
Sometimes this voice is loud.
Sometimes it’s subtle.
Sometimes its emotional.
Sometimes It’s sarcastic.
Sometimes it’s annoyed.
Sometimes it’s fearful.
Sometimes it’s just hungry.
Sometimes it seems logical, but very often this voice is LYING to you. Especially if you are an artist.
So why does this happen? Why does it affect artists more than most people?
Well for starters artists are more sensitive people and our antennas are tuned more than most. We can feel our feelings more. That’s why we know when we’ve hit something that moves us. These same sensitivities intensify our inner voices.
All humans have that inner voice. It acts like an internal GPS used to help us navigate the world. Without it, we could be aimlessly lost.
But what if the GPS is wrong?
What if it’s telling you that routes that should be open are closed? Or that roads you have taken hundreds of times are suddenly dangerous?
It reroutes you toward what it believes is the SAFER path.
And most of the time, you don’t even realize you’ve been rerouted.
So where is this voice trying to take you and what has it already convinced you to believe?
But wait whose driving you or the voice?
And if your GPS is wrong and is based on false information or LIES can it actually be fixed or reprogrammed?
Yes.
BUT before we get into how let’s look at the lies most artists believe to see where the shift can be made…

Lie #1 The Lie of All Lies - The Classic - “This isn’t good enough = I’m not good enough.”
You hear your favorite new artists song and compare it to your unfinished demo.
You look at another artist’s fully developed brand, with a big team, and tons of success and compare it to the thing you are still in the mix of developing.
You compare your behind-the-scenes confusion to somebody else’s highlight reel.
The voices use that comparison as evidence. They are like a group of high priced lawyers making their case.
“See? You don’t have it. And you never will.”
But almost every artist you admire has heard the exact same voice. The presence of doubt has nothing to do with your talent. It usually means you care deeply about the outcome. But…when you care about something deeply your brain can sometimes make it “bigger” than it may actually be.
Your brain can begin processing the outcome like it’s life or death.
And the moment something feels like life or death, the survival part of your mind takes over. It starts scanning for danger, calculating every possible way things could go wrong, and using its critical voice to convince you not to take the risk.
Not because it wants you to fail.
Because it’s trying to protect you.
The problem is, your brain often can’t tell the difference between real danger and the emotional risk of creating something that matters.
Lie #2 - The Imposter / The Poser “I’m a fraud.” “ I don’t belong here.”
This voice says you somehow tricked people into believing you belong.
It tells you that you are not “cool” enough to be here trying to do this. Leave it for the people who are better than you. People are really made for this.
This is imposter syndrome.
You think “Other artists are so much better than me. They are confident. They belong here not me.”
But artists often misunderstand what confidence actually looks like.
Confidence is knowing you are going to fail… a lot. But you keep going even when you get it wrong.
You do not have to feel qualified every day to continue doing the work. Some of the greatest artists we have aren’t the most confident they are the most diligent. They push thru. That’s why they “BELONG.”
Real belonging ONLY comes from contribution. If you spoke in the conversation and you added value to it you BELONG in that conversation. And in the end that’s all art is expression, communication, and conversation.
It’s not if you deserve to be in that conversation. You’re either in it, contributing or you’re not.
Lie #3: Where is my value? Am I Important? “My work isn’t valuable.” “I’m not valuable.”
A song underperforms.
A post gets low engagement.
A booker says no.
A random troll comments something negative, but it cuts deep.
And suddenly, the voice turns one moment of rejection into a complete judgment of your overall value.
“This isn’t worth anything.” “Why am I even doing this?”
But value and immediate resonance are not always the same thing.
Fight Club was a flop at the box office and looked as a commercial failure. DVD sales and word of mouth later gave it a massive following, and it became one of the defining films of its generation.
Blade Runner earned a disappointing response when it opened in 1982 and was overshadowed by more accessible science-fiction films like E.T. Its reputation grew over decades, and it is now considered one of the most influential science-fiction films ever made.
The Beastie Boys Album Paul’s Boutique dramatically "under performed” against their album License to Ill. Its dense sampling and production were later recognized as groundbreaking, and it is now regularly considered a hip-hop classic.
Daft Punk’s Album Human After All received mixed reviews when it arrived in 2005. Critics called it repetitive, underdeveloped, and a major step down from Discovery. But then the material came ALIVE through Daft Punk’s Alive 2006–2007 performances, where tracks like “Robot Rock,” “Technologic,” and “Television Rules the Nation” became central to a live show that would change and define all electronic concerts that would come after.
Some of your most important work may arrive way before the audience is ready for it. Some of it may need better communication. Some of it may need more development. And some of it may simply need time.
Low initial engagement is just information.
It is not a final verdict on valuable or not valuable.
Let it cook. You never know what may happen.
Lie #4: Proximity “Everyone is ahead of me.”
This is the voice of comparison.
It looks at someone else’s social stats, numbers, bookings, followers, team, opportunities, or momentum and convinces you that you are losing and they are winning.
You are looking at your career like an F1 Driver. Other cars are ahead of you and you are at the back of the pack. But you aren’t an F1 driver. You’re an artist. Art isn’t racing.
Lie #5: “I’ve missed my chance.”
This voice loves time.
It tells you that you should have started earlier.
You should be further along.
You wasted too many years.
The window closed. At this point just call it.
But careers are not built on one universal timeline. Artists develop at different speeds because they are living different lives.
The years you think you lost may have been the years that gave you your story, your taste, your pain, your perspective, and your reason for making the work in the first place.
Lie #6: “It has to be perfect.”
Perfectionism sounds cool in theory.
It makes you feel like you simply care more than everyone else. Like your dedication is a flex.
But most perfectionism is fear wrapped in package labeled “dedication.”
It's fear of people not liking it.
Fear of releasing something that does not match the version you imagined in your head.
Fear of being judged.
Fear.
So you keep adjusting, tweaking, rebuilding, and waiting.
The voice calls quality control, which sometimes it is, but often it’s not. It’s avoidance.
Lie #7: “This Life Isn’t Safe”
The life of an artist can feel unstable.
There is no guaranteed paycheck. No guaranteed audience. No guaranteed next opportunity.
You have it one day and then you don’t.
So the voice starts saying:
“Why did I choose this?”
“This is too risky.”
“I should stop and do something safer.”
Your brain loves CERTAINTY. It wants to know what happens next and whether everything will work out.
Where the money is coming from? Where is the positive reinforcement coming from?
But, as you know, the life of an artist cannot promise that.
You make the work before you know if people will care. You take the risk before you know if it will pay off. You keep moving without always knowing where the path leads.
And your brain can confuse that uncertainty with danger.
“This career isn’t stable” becomes “This isn’t safe,” which becomes “I’m not safe.” “I’m scared.”
But uncertainty doesn’t always mean DANGER AHEAD or CAUTION.
Sometimes it just means you are building something that does not exist yet.
Sometimes it means you are taking a real creative risk.
You should absolutely create more stability around your art. Build structure. Save money. Find multiple streams of income.
BUT there is a difference between creating safety and letting fear choose your life.
You can make your life more stable without abandoning the artist inside you.
All these voices do is slow down your creative output. By trying to protect you they are blocking your flow, blocking your gifts, and blocking your light.
So can you reprogram these voices? Can you get rid of them? How do you fix this?
Well… There’s an interesting book called The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer where he describes the voice inside your head as your inner ROOMMATE.
Imagine this voice was an actual person following you around all day.
You wake up and they say:
“You look terrible.”
You begin working and they say:
“This idea sucks.”
You post something and they say:
“Everyone thinks you’re cringe. This is pathetic.”
You see another artist doing well and they say:
“You’ll never catch them.”
Now here are facts about this voice… You would never hire this person as your manager.
You would never make them your creative director.
You probably would not even want to have lunch with them.
They definitely wouldn’t be your close friend.
Yet most artists let this voice make many major decisions in their creative lives.
And now you can see from the previous laid out lies that these voices are often those of truth.
They are scared parts of your primal human brain, your past traumas, and your life’s bad experiences combining together desperately trying to survive and keep you alive. They are driving the car using fear and irrational thoughts all while masquerading as your logical roommate who’s trying to help you.
Now, the most important idea in Singer’s work is simple:
YOU ARE NOT THE VOICE.
YOU ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS.
DO NOT BELIEVE THESE THOUGHTS IF THEY DO NOT SERVE YOU.
YOU ARE the person who hears the voice.
That difference changes everything.
Because once the roommate enters your mind, you do not have to fight it. You do not have to prove it wrong. You do not need to spend an hour collecting evidence that you are talented, valuable, or worthy.
You simply notice it.
“There is the voice telling me I’m behind.”
“There is the voice telling me this will fail.”
“There is the voice telling me I’m not good enough.”
The moment you can hear the thought as something separate from yourself, it loses some of its power.
When you hear the voice in this way just let it go. It may continue to have it’s small tantrum, but let it be. Do not debate it.
This is where most people get trapped.
The voice says, “You suck.”
You respond, “No, I don’t. Look at everything I’ve achieved. Look at all I’ve been thru.”
Now you are having a full conversation with your roommate.
You are giving the thought your time, energy, and attention.
You do not have to win the argument.
Let the thought speak.
Let it pass through.
Relax your body.
Unclench your jaw.
Drop your shoulders.
Take a breath.
Get a snack.
Take a quick nap, meditate, or just breathe in silence for a few mins.
Do not build a story around the feeling.
Then ask yourself one question:
“What would I do if I did not believe this thought?”
If I thought about this as a roommate who’s having a bad day, but I’m going to leave him or her be.
“What would I do next?”
Maybe you finish the song.
Maybe you make the post.
Maybe you send the email.
Maybe you prep for the session.
Maybe you creatively write and ideate.
Or Maybe you take the night off and return tomorrow… It can happen where your roommate is too loud that day that trying to be creative may not be in the cards, but that’s okay.
The goal is not to permanently silence the voice. Unfortunately there’s no cure for that.
But the cure (the reprogram) is the shift in perspective.
The understanding is to stop confusing the voice with the truth.
THESE VOICES ARE LIES. DO NOT BELIEVE THEM.
Your roommate is allowed to talk and will… sometimes nice things will actually be said, but
It is just no longer allowed to run your career or your creative.
Tip:
Make a list of all the things you accomplished in your life. It can be, but does not need to be art related. Can be as simple as going thru a hard move or taking a risk on something. Expand as you go.
This list is made up of facts and truths.
When you hear the voice, let is pass… Once it has look at the list.

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