Unleash Your Inner Rock Star

Remember those long haired, spandex sporting, eye liner wearing Rock Gods from the 1980’s hair metal scene?

Well I do. In fact; I still love that look and sound. Yes–my body has matured over the years (unfortunately) but my taste in music has not. I still get a thrill when I hear the motorcycles rev at the beginning of Motley Crue’s “Girls Girls Girls”, and no matter where I’m at or what I’m doing, I simply must bang my head whenever I hear Quiet Riot’s “Bang Your Head.”

I just got home from a trip to Las Vegas, and while in Vegas, I was able to attend a Poison, Def Leppard and Tesla concert. I tell you what — IT ROCKED! Seriously–when the show was over I was deaf from the sound level (after all, if it’s too loud–you’re too old right??) and hoarse from screaming and singing along at the top of my lungs. The best part of the night however, came before the show when I was able to hang out backstage with the boys from Poison (Bret Michaels, Bobby Dall, Rikki Rocket and CC Deville). Even when the guys weren’t on stage and under the lights, they still seemed larger than life to me and so full of incredible energy. They were kind, funny and down-to-earth, and yet, they still had that rock star swagger about them.

This got me thinking about the qualities that these rockers possessed that made them so, well….FabYOUlous; and as I thought about those qualities, it occurred to me that (outside of their crazy musical skills) many of these qualities are ones that we can all learn to “rock” in our own lives, thereby unleashing our own inner rock star. Here is a quick rundown of seven rockin’ ways to turn up the volume in your life and rock what you’ve got…

1.) Do what you LOVE. There is no doubt about it–the rockers onstage were absolutely LOVING what they were doing. It didn’t matter that they did this exact same show night after night, or that they had played the songs so often that they could no doubt play them in their sleep. You could see it in their faces, and even if you were in the very back row of the arena, you could feel the energy and excitement that they brought to the performance. They LOVED what they were doing and as a result, everyone loved being a part of their magic. This is true for us as well. If we pursue the things that we truly love, we will exude such enthusiasm and passion that others will take note.

2.) Play to your strengths. CC was AMAZING on guitar. Seriously–he blew me away. My hunch however is that he would be less than stellar on the drums. That’s okay though–his strength is shredding on the guitar so that’s what he does. He doesn’t waste his time and energy trying to get better at something that he sucks at; he instead funnels that energy and passion into honing and perfecting his skill in an area where he is already naturally strong, and therefore is exponentially more successful. As I apply this lesson to my own life, I can see its validity. For example–I am bad at math. No matter how long I study or how hard I try, I will always be bad at math. Time and effort might make me a little less bad at math but still…”less bad” is not the same thing as being good. Thankfully, I am good at writing and speaking. I’ve noticed that my level of success and happiness skyrockets when I spend my time and energy working on projects that utilize my natural gifts of language and communication. Because writing and speaking are natural strengths of mine, I find that I enjoy those activities immensely…or maybe it’s the other way around. Maybe I am strong in the areas of writing and speaking because I enjoy them so much. Either way, it doesn’t take a mathematician (thank goodness!) to understand that playing to our strengths + loving what we do = a FabYOUlously rockin’ life.

3.) Surrond yourself with the right people. Tommy Lee is an amazing (and entertaining) drummer but he wouldn’t be near the superstar that he is today if it weren’t for Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil and Mick Mars (the other bad boys of Motley Crue). Tommy is great on the drums, but having Nikki on bass, Mick on lead guitar and Vince handling the vocals is what has helped to propel Tommy to the height of rock & roll super-stardom. By aligning himself with other talented and entertaining musicians, Tommy helped to guarantee his own success. We can make this same proven phenomenon work for us by taking a look at the people that we surround ourselves with on a daily basis. Famous success expert, Jim Rohn once said that we are the average of the five people that we spend the most time with. What does this mean for you? Do you surround yourself with inspiring, purpose driven, optimists who lift you higher and encourage you to reach for greater levels of FabYOUlousness, or do you find yourself constantly being drug down or criticized by those closest to you? It can be difficult to limit the amount of time that we spend with people who suck the life out of us (especially if they happen to be family members), but in order to truly rock our FabYOUlousness, it is vital that we find ways to diminish our exposure to those who would hold us back, and instead align ourselves with those who recognize our inner rock star qualities and encourage us to share those qualities with the world.

4.) Give it your all–even as you start small. All rock stars have to start somewhere and that somewhere is often the garage of a buddy whose parents happen to be out of town, or a dark, dingy nightclub that smells of stale cigarette smoke, alcohol and sweat. The thing that sets those who are destined for future Rock God status apart from the rest of the wannabe’s is the fact that the venue doesn’t have an impact on their performance level. True rock stars will give it all they’ve got whether they’re playing a local club that seats 75 people (on a good night) or a giant arena full of 30,000 screaming fans who are all wearing their concert t-shirts. When Poison first hit the California music scene, they barely made enough money to feed themselves and almost called it quits. Fortunately, they understood the importance of giving their all, night after night, and word of their amazing, interactive, crowd pleasing performances started to spread. Now–all these years later, people still love singing along to “Unskinny Bop” (oh c’mon admit it–you love that song too) and “Every Rose Has its Thorn”, and Bret Michaels has become a brand in and of himself (and trust me ladies–he STILL looks amazing!). When we take this same approach and give our best efforts to even our smallest, seemingly least significant tasks; we will establish ourselves as masters of our craft and will be rewarded with greater opportunities to shine. So, whether you’re on stage in front of thousands, or simply typing a blog post that no one but your mom and best friend might read…give it everything you’ve got and let your rock star shine through.

5.) Be willing to take risks. I am not enough of a rock historian to know who the first fella was to think that it might be cool to don some spandex, tease his hair and lock it in place with an entire can of Aqua Net and then throw on some eyeliner and lipstick before heading out on stage to an eagerly awaiting crowd of rockers–but whoever he was, HE HAD GUTS. Who would’ve guessed that the Glam Metal look would’ve taken off like it did in the mid 80’s? Who would’ve thought that the guys in the posters on my bedroom wall would’ve been prettier than the girls in the posters on my brother’s bedroom wall? Sometimes you just don’t know how amazing something will be until you try it, and that’s why we must all learn to get comfortable with the prospect of taking occasional risks. I know, I know…this one is tough. We get so cozy in our own little self made comfort zones of predictability that it is hard to imagine ourselves ever breaking out of our tired routines and ho-hum, treadmill lives. The thing is though…all of the magic happens outside of our comfort zones. This means that if we truly want to unleash our inner rock star, we have to be willing to let someone read that novel that we’ve been secretly working on or volunteer for that work assignment that nobody else wants to take on. Nobody makes it big in this world by playing small, so be willing to look for opportunities to break out of your comfort zone. Yes–you might end up looking silly occasionally (Dee Snider anyone?) but your occasional risks might just lead to your biggest success.

6.) Find your niche. Glam Metal. Speed Metal. Heavy Metal. I loved it all back in the day. My tastes ran the gamut from Cinderella to Slayer but can you imagine Tommy Keifer performing onstage to Slayer’s “Raining Blood”? Yeah–me neither. That’s fine though because Cinderella and Slayer both had their places in their own respective niches. No 80’s metal band could do it all–nor would their fans have wanted them to. I for one, would not have wanted to attend a Metallica concert to hear them play Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me” but I LOVED hearing Joe Elliott and the boys play it live. The opposite is also true–please save “Ride the Lightning” and “Master of Puppets” for Metallica! These bands found the niches that they were most well suited for, and they did everything that they could to rock those niches and give their fans what they wanted. We can do this too by not trying to be too many different things for too many different people. For example–my niche is women who feel stuck and are looking for ways to take their lives from drab to Fab. That’s my target market, that’s the audience that I love and have a connection with, that’s who I can personally relate to. I could not meet the wants and needs of my audience if I was also trying to write for men who were interested in body building or for teenagers who were looking for summer jobs. Those are other viable markets but they are not my niche. Unleashing your inner rock star means finding the area for which you have the most passion and doing all that you can to excel in your chosen area.

7.) Give back. Yes–back in the day there were plenty of stories of the hedonistic, self absorbed, rock & roll lifestyles that were attached to all of the big acts. I’m sure that many of the stories were no doubt true, but I’m also sure that much of what we (as fans) heard was carefully manufactured hype used for the purpose of perpetuating the myth of the party all the time, bad boy, rock & roll fantasy. Now however; it is refreshing to hear that many of those rock & roll bad boys are using their fame in ways that are focused upon giving back and helping others. This is true of Steven Adler (Guns N Roses), Rudy Sarzo (Dio, Quiet Riot & Whitesnake) and Juan Crocier (Ratt) who joined forces with many other 80’s rockers to put together a benefit concert for the victims of the Tsunami in Japan. It is also true of Jon Bon Jovi who has opened a cafe called “Soul Kitchen” where the menu has no prices listed–patrons simply donate what they are able in exchange for a meal. If someone is unable to pay, they can volunteer their time instead. In my mind, it is this willingness to use their status for the purpose of giving back and making a positive difference in the world that truly sets apart the real rock stars from the rest of the pack, and is something that we should all strive to emulate.

In short, no matter where we are in our lives or how drab our current circumstances may seem; we all have rock star potential inside of us that longs to be unleashed. Begin today to take some steps toward your FabYOUlous life by learning to rock what you’ve got.

I’d love to hear how you’re rockin’ your FabYOUlous life so please leave a comment below. Also–I’d love to hear who some of your favorite bands were back in the day!

In order to truly rock what you’ve got, you need to have plenty of energy and a genuine understanding of what makes you FabYOUlous. Click the box below to receive TWO free ebooks that will help you to unleash your inner rockstar!