I was recently asked “Oliver, what are you trying to do? Are you a music producer, an actor, a marketer… what are you trying to be? You’re all over the place.”
This question was asked after a busy week of uploading content to my social media platforms. I uploaded a couple of songs, a short video monologue and a few pictures. Each piece of content was unique and different and on the surface it may seem as if they had nothing in common but for me, and those who know me well, this is normal. I’ve been like this my whole life.
Maybe it’s my parents fault (“fault” in this case is a good thing) because they never called my creative outlets unnecessary or a waste of time and money. They invested in my artistic talents long before I wrote my first song, designed my first poster or directed my first movie. They spent their hard earned money on musical equipment, audio recording gear, cameras, computers and software. This laid the foundation for everything I do today.
Now I’m also an entrepreneur, an author, a website developer, a story teller and a teacher of the good news. It may seem like a lot but the truth is we all have the capacity to produce a variety of creative content. The problem is most people never realize they have the power living inside of them and so they never do more than what’s expected. They do one thing... maybe two... and often times they don’t even do that to the best of their ability.
Look at the people changing the world today. Mark Zuckerberg was a geek. Yes, a very smart geek but take a look at his story. Here’s this kid that created a social platform that essentially changed the way people interact with each other. He could have sold the company and retired but he didn’t. He could have stuck to what made him successful but he didn’t do that either. Facebook is a social media platforms but they also own instagram. They are also developing a plane that will hover over remote parts of the world in order to provide internet access to millions of people. What if Mark would have stuck to what was expected of him? What if he would have ceased to create new things?
Elon Musk is another example of a person that doesn’t seem to want to get pinned down to one category. He’s an investor that has done very well for himself. He’s the CEO of Tesla, Space X, the Boring Company and most recently Tesla entered the solar-power market by purchasing SolarCity for $2.6 Billion dollars. Oh, and he has plans to go to Mars!
There are many examples of men and women that have a diverse set of skills that they joyfully exercise. These are the people that have changed the way we live. Changed the way we communicate. Changed the blueprint to achieving success.
It would be wise for people to stop trying to encase others into their own personal limited expectations. The world is being changed by those that need a Wikipedia page and not a name tag to explain who they are and what they do.
So how did I answer the person that playfully mocked me by asking the question the way they did?
“I am all of that… and more.”
Picture Circa 2006. Working in my home studio.