Ode To Sleep and the Power of Patience

As a child of the 90s, I grew up on music videos. Even today, though I don’t listen to a lot of music, I love watching music videos. For the last few years, my absolute favorite music video has been “Ode To Sleep” by Twenty One Pilots. If you don’t know the song, and you probably don’t, you can check out the video HERE.

Aside from it being an amazing song, the concept of the video is what draws me in. It opens with Tyler and Josh performing a live show in front of just 12 people. It’s a grainy video shot in what appears to be a mix between a middle school cafeteria and a set piece from the movie Saw. This is two years into the band, and after all that grinding, they are giving 110% energy to just 12 people. The video immediately jumps forward 19 months, where they are performing the same song in front of 300 people. Again, 110% energy! Then, it jumps again. This time, 20 months into the future. This time, however, they are playing in front of 20,000 people…..with the same 110% energy. I get emotional every time I watch it.

They played for 2 years for the privilege of performing in front of 12 people…..but they kept going. They believed in themselves and the mission, and they did the hard work. Fast forward another 2.5 years and they were one of the biggest performers in the world. It was nothing…..until it was everything. If they were gauging success based on worldly numbers, they would have quit long before they had the opportunity to impact millions of people. I’ve seen them perform in person three times now, and can confidently say they are one of the best live performers in the entire world. It’s an experience unlike anything.

Though most of us won’t one day become international music sensations, we too have something in common with Twenty One Pilots. Success isn’t a predictable straight line. It oftentimes sometimes seems like nothing…..until it’s everything. You may be getting frustrated with something in your world. A project you’re working on. The promotion that should have come a few years ago. The business you started. The child you and your spouse so desperately desire to conceive. It’s so hard! Sometimes we just want to quit……quitting would be easier.

I’ve been thinking about that as it relates to our podcast. We’re 200+ episodes and 60+ hours of content in. We’ve been grinding for two years. And for whatever reason, our audience has exploded in the last few weeks. Hundreds of downloads per day. New episodes and old episodes alike. We’re getting DMs from people all over the world. We hit the top charts in other countries. It’s quite weird, to be honest. Like Twenty One Pilots and so many other things in life, it’s nothing…..until it’s everything. We don’t measure success in the numbers, and I’m glad we don’t. If we had, we would have given up a long time ago. We’re chasing something more important than numbers: impact.

Whatever you’re working on, please don’t stop. The world deserves to experience it, and you deserve to share it with the world. Sometimes it’s nothing…..until it’s everything.