I started thinking, what would be of value to my colleagues worth taking the time to sit down and compose? There it was ‘thinking’, everything that has happened to me in the last few years originated from a thought, a new way of thinking, a change in my perspective. By Alan Marshall A full-time wedding DJ and master of ceremonies based in Hampshire, Alan Marshall has nearly 40 years of experience, and is currently focused on creating wedding entertainment that is engaging and driven by emotion.
He is the Education & Training Officer for the National Association of DJs, having previously served as both a Branch and National Chairman. What I have realised is that everything began to change for me when I started to think differently. What I will attempt to do in this article is explain how looking at what we do differently, be it through the eyes of our clients or a coach/mentor, can be hugely beneficial. Now as I go through the following paragraphs some of this may seem familiar to past articles I have written for Pro Mobile: ‘Are You Well Read?’ (Issue 93), ‘Are You Fit Enough to DJ? (Issue 94) and last issue’s ‘How Creating Good Habits Can Propel Your Life & Business Forward’ .
I will attempt not to repeat myself, but there will be obvious correlations between the thoughts I shared in those pieces and this article. For me personally, everything changed when I travelled to Las Vegas back in 2010 to attend my first Marbecca workshop with my mentor and coach Mark Ferrell. During that two day workshop I was encouraged to stretch as a performer, which included thinking about what I was doing and – more importantly – why I was doing it.
During these two days it was like a mist suddenly evaporated from in front of my eyes, I began to see how I performed as a DJ from a completely different perspective. By taking the time to consider each introduction I was about to make, to think about the back story behind what was happening, I was able to completely transform my announcements on the mic! Let’s take Father/Daughter dances as an example, something I love to deliver now but didn’t think twice about back then.
Mark encouraged me to think about why this would be important, to imagine what the father of the bride was thinking just before he was about to dance with his daughter, how was he feeling on this his daughter’s wedding day, that same little girl that years before he had held in the palm of his hand on the day she was born? How would he be feeling now she was about to start a new journey with her new husband? All of this seemed to open up in the workshop and, through Mark’s expert guidance, I learnt to channel this emotion to make an announcement that would engage with everyone in attendance and covey to them how magical that moment truly was.
All that started with thinking differently about an announcement that before that moment I only considered to be just words. So, why do I need to change? I here you ask! Well, the quick answer is you don’t need to change; however if we want to stay relevant to prospective clients and more DJs, venues and wedding suppliers are telling me that their bookings are down.
It is so easy to get bogged down with secondguessing ourselves, listening to the voice in our head that says we are not good enough. What I learnt from reading the book ‘The Four Agreements’ by Don Miguel Ruiz was that nothing is personal unless we choose to take it that way, but ultimately that is our choice. That book alone totally changed how I handle rejection; no longer do I see it as my fault or something wrong with me, I merely acknowledge it to be a choice that someone else has made, not personal.
So, to counteract the dip in my workload, I personally took on the challenge to become a better version of myself, to make the most of my newfound free time. Firstly, I decided to read more, to actively increase my knowledge, understanding and insight. Secondly, I committed to lose weight and get fitter. and stay in business we all need to continually adapt and evolve. That usually starts with thinking about what we do differently.
After all, if we carry on doing what we have always done we are destined to get what we have always got, or worse, become obsolete. The power of a positive thought Over the last few months I have been posting a daily thought meme on my Facebook page. I’ve been doing this for two reasons. Firstly because I truly believe in the power of positive thought and hope that they may inspire others to think differently, but also as a reminder to myself to be positive.
But how is this relevant to my DJ business? I hear you say. Well, for full-time DJs relying on making sales to continue working and pay all the bills, it’s easy to become negative when we don’t win work and are not as busy as we would like to be. It’s all too easy to take rejection personally: why didn’t they book me?
What’s wrong with me? Etc. Certainly this year more "if we carry on doing what we have always done we are destined to get what we have always got, or worse, become obsolete" JUST A THOUGHT CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING6262 Ultimately, my goal was to stay positive through creating positive habits. More recently this has also included working on my skills a DJ through training at the On The Rise DJ Academy in London with my coach, club DJ Terry Ryan.
All of this has changed the way I think about what I do and changed the way I think about myself. Changing the way you think is not easy, it takes time and a willingness to be open to another point of view. I am not sure where I first heard the statement “if you believe you can, or believe you can’t, you are right” , it may have been one of Dave ‘RSD’ Reed’s presentations! I do remember, however, that it did resonate with me.
Was it really that simple? Could you change the outcome just by thinking about your situation differently? What I discovered was the more positive you become, the more opportunities open up; the happier you become, the more things there are to be happy about. This simple change in attitude: no longer thinking about what may go wrong, but instead thinking about what may go right, means that when those opportunities open up you are more likely to be aware of them.
How can I change the way I think? Those who attended the Pro Mobile Conference back in March witnessed Jon Holder demonstrating to attendees how they could raise their personal energy level with a simple exercise. In a similar way, I know that you can also change your whole day with one small positive thought in the morning. For me that starts with my daily walk, which allows me to clear my head and focus on my day ahead.
Your mind is a powerful thing, when you fill it with positive thoughts, your life will start to change. Another way to fill your mind with positivity – and also expand it – is reading. As I mentioned in my ‘Are You Well Read?’ article, there is wealth of material available specifically written for, and by, DJs covering topics explicitly related to running a successful DJ business. That said; don’t just limit yourself to only DJ business books.
I have discovered lots of really useful ideas that have really helped to change my thinking by looking outside of the DJ world for reading material. Whatever area of your life or business you’d like to improve, the chances are that someone else has already had the same challenge and written down how they overcame it or how they changed their point of view. I have also found that one of the fastest ways to change the way you think is to network with people who are already the way you want to be!
That could be successful in business, life, health & fitness or any other area you’d like to develop. Whatever you are trying to change, or think differently about, surround yourself with positive people who are already a little further down the road you’d like to travel. Now, changing the way you think is one thing, but ultimately you need to take action. Too often a great idea fails due to one of two reasons: we act without thinking or we keep thinking without taking action.
For me personally, the biggest successes I have had in my career were not from only the best ideas I have had but the ones I took action over, which on occasion followed my biggest failures. What I had learnt from failing was to think differently. Think big Take out 10 minutes, ideally right now, to think about what you want to achieve in the next five years, "Changing the way you think is not easy, it takes time and a willingness to be open to another point of view" one year, six months and what you want to achieve today!
Your future is defined by what you do today, its determined by the actions you take consistently. As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, why not think big! What is your dream? What, if anything were possible, if you had a magic wand, would you wish for yourself?
It could be a business goal or a personal goal, for instance that luxury holiday, to be financially free, maybe a health and well-being goal, becoming a better version of yourself or saving for a new home. The point is think as big as you can dream and then go a little bigger. Now think about what you would need to do to achieve that goal? That may include training, saving for that luxury holiday, or joining a gym.
Now think about when you want to achieve that goal by, your deadline! A dream is a goal without a deadline; once you have set yours you have a plan to stick to for achieving that goal. My final thought is that changing the way you think is sometimes as simple as making the decision to do so, but becoming the best version of you takes hard work and discipline. It takes commitment, it takes action, and it comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t and, when you start to think that way, anything is possible.
