Become the Chief You Officer: Self-Management for Musicians (Episode 173)

You learned how to make music. Nobody taught you how to make a living making music.

Big companies have a CEO, a COO, a CMO and a CFO. You have you. In Episode 173 of The Career Musician, Nomad reads from his book ETHOS and introduces one of its key ideas, the CYO: Chief You Officer. If you work as an independent musician, every executive job in your one-person company is yours.

This episode is pure self-management for musicians: how to organize the chaos in your head into a daily list you actually finish. He opens it holding a brand-new fretless nylon string guitar from Genta, picked up at NAMM. Uncertain frets, uncertain life. It fits.

You don't have a boss, so you are the boss

On a gig, the music director is your boss for that gig. In a session, it is the artist, producer or composer. If you teach at a school, you have supervisors. But at the end of the day, as an independent contractor, you are on your own.

"Who's going to look out for your best interest? That falls on you. Who's going to negotiate the best possible rate for everything you do? That also falls on you."

Nomad, 3:53

Nobody is looking over your shoulder. Nobody else holds the big-picture view, executes the plan or collects the money. Corporations have whole departments for collections. You have you. That is Savvy from the ETHOS code: owning the business side because no one else will.

Work in modules

From the book: as a one-person company, it can be a juggling act to keep every department running smoothly. Schedule your day in modules, and focus on one task at a time.

Nomad uses the guitar in his hands to explain. Nobody builds a guitar all at once. First you pick the woods. Then you decide the top, the back and the sides. Then the binding. Then the neck, the fretboard and the headstock. Your career works the same way: one module at a time.

The daily to-do list with little bubbles

His tool is nothing fancy: the Notes app on his phone. At the top go the priorities, the things that can't slip today, like an important bill, the rent, or picking up the kids. Then work, split into modules: sessions with deliverables due, gig prep, teaching. Every task gets a little bubble. Checking one off, he says, feels like the world lifting off his shoulders.

Here is the exercise. Write down everything swimming around in your brain. Then sort it into three bins: personal, business and creative. Pick one to three items from each bin, and that is today's list.

"You are in charge. You're the boss. You call the shots, you make the moves."

Nomad, 8:22

No excuses about time, either. Your phone is in your hand all day. Check the list constantly and move things around as the day changes, like when a hot call comes in for a Friday session.

Strategy zooms out, tactics zoom in

Strategy is the big picture: your POA (plan of attack), your vision board, your workflow and mindset. Tactics are how you break that plan into daily tasks you can actually get done. Nomad calls this the most important step.

And stop worrying about streams and follower counts. Count royalties as a bonus. Even a $35 royalty check can cover most of a breakfast out with your kid. Focus on what you need to do right now, every day, for compounded results. Consistency leads to mastery.

He didn't know all these steps starting out in the 90s and early 2000s as a session and touring guitarist. He researched the people who came before him, then built his own plan. That is work begets work: one checked bubble at a time.

The takeaway

You manage you, you supervise you, and you build your career. Become your own Chief You Officer. To turn the big picture into daily moves, grab the free plan of attack (POA) worksheet and read more about the ETHOS code.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

Watch on YouTube or find every episode on the TCM Podcast page.