IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD summary

In 2015, Russ played a show in Tampa, Florida. There were only 40 people there, and he had to stay in a crummy hotel by himself because he couldn’t afford to bring anyone along to support him.

This might sound like a very disappointing experience for someone who believed himself to be a star, but Russ didn’t experience it that way. Rather, he was thrilled just to be doing what he loved: playing music. It didn’t matter to him if there were 40 or 40,000 people in the audience. Russ gave it everything he had. He found the experience so inspiring that it even motivated him to write another song.

As we’ve seen, unwavering self-belief is key to achieving your dreams. However, we should also try to surround ourselves with people who nurture and support us, instead of those who disparage us.

Russ’s love of music was always encouraged by his family. They provided the foundation for his talents to flourish. His parents always had music on in the house, and his father would often sing in the car, tapping the steering wheel like an imaginary drum set. 

If you watch professional athletes slam dunking on the basketball court, or effortlessly making a hole-in-one, you’ll notice that they’re so confident that they almost make it look easy. 

However, this apparent ease belies hours and hours of work – hours of training early in the morning, days of frustration as shots are missed. While self-belief is the seed we need to plant our dreams, hard work is the only thing that will make them grow. 

Imagine you’re a young musician starting out in the music industry. You’ve been working away at your craft, and then you have a breakthrough song. Suddenly, there’s a whole new world to navigate – one of publicity and royalties and contracts. You’re completely overwhelmed. 

In this kind of situation, you may well be tempted to accept an offer from a manager or record company to handle your finances and business negotiations. While this might alleviate the pressure and uncertainty, it could also deprive you of something vital: control over your own career. 

Although Russ had been planning for success all his life, it was still a huge adjustment to become famous. Once accountable only to himself, he was now firmly in the public eye.

His outspokenness on social media and fervent self-confidence rubbed some people the wrong way and attracted controversy. For example, in 2017 Russ shared his vision for the next year’s Grammys, tweeting that he would win 10. When he didn’t win any Grammys in 2018, Russ’s tweet became an object of ridicule.