It’s All In Your Head Summary

Tag Line: It’s All In Your Head will motivate you to work hard, stay determined, and believe you can achieve your dreams by sharing the rise to fame of the prolific composer Russ.

Picture this. You’re an aspiring rapper that’s been working on songs for over six years. You’ve released 80 songs in that time, but never made more than about $200 in a single month. Would you give up and go find a different career?
This was once the situation of the now popular American rapper Russ. But instead of succumbing to the beliefs of those around him that he would never make it, his profound persistence paid won and made him successful.
Even in the most difficult of times, when most would-be musicians usually give up, Russ kept going. His drive, self-confidence, and vision propelled him to where he is today.
The story of his rise to fame gives powerful motivation for you to never give up on your dreams. And he tells it all in his book It’s All in Your Head. You’ll learn each of the tools he used on his path to greatness so that you can do the same.
These are 3 of the many lessons in this book that inspired me:
1. You need unwavering self-confidence in your vision if you want to reach your dreams.
2. Keep doing what you love and success will come to you.
3. Belief and work are the only two secrets to accomplishing your biggest aspirations.
Are you ready for some motivation? Let’s go!

Lesson 1: You’ll reach your dreams if you have unwavering self-confidence in your vision.

Russ didn’t have any proof that he was going to become great. But he stayed confident in himself anyway, even through times when he was working on his music in his parents’ basement and nobody was listening.
Part of his ability to push through came from the power of mantras. He and his best friend Bugus had a dream of getting their music on MTV. As they drove around on one visit to LA, they kept telling themselves “we’re going to get on MTV.”
But they didn’t stop there. To make your dreams a reality you have to act, and that’s just what they did. They began to spam messages to an MTV executive on Twitter asking him to consider their music for the channel.
Eventually, he gave them a chance and they got on MTV!
Russ also had the habit of sharing his vision on social media. Although broke, he would tweet that he was getting a “million dollars a beat,” just to reinforce his vision. In his mind, he was already making that much and reality just had to catch up.
To accomplish something big, you’ve got to envision what it will feel like. If you wanted to buy a house, for example, you’d imagine how you’d feel moving in.

Lesson 2: Success comes to those that consistently work on what they love.

If you had all that belief in yourself that you were already making millions, do you think an empty audience might make you second guess yourself? Many people might, but that’s not what Russ did.
At one point he played in Florida for only 40 people. Rather than being disappointed, there weren’t more in the crowd, he just took pleasure in doing the work that he enjoyed most. He didn’t care how many people attended, he just put his heart into it.
He took this potentially devastating experience and actually found so much inspiration in it that he wrote another song!
Can you imagine letting yourself just do what you love like that? Most people don’t really think about what they’re passionate about. We get caught up in limitations and fears of failing, so we never start.
Society isn’t much help either. Often the biggest critics of our craft are “realistic” friends and family. What you need to do if you want to create the life of your dreams is silence their voices of concern. Believe in yourself and keep working on what you love.
Taking the leap of faith might not be easy, but it will definitely be worth it. How would it feel to get to do work you love each day and make a living from it? It took Russ six years but he kept going and now that’s his reality. Will you do the same?

Lesson 3: You can accomplish even your biggest aspirations by believing and working hard.

You might watch professional sports and think they make it look easy. But what you don’t see is the hours of early mornings, frustrating practice sessions, and missed shots. Belief is important, but to grow and become great you have to put in the work.
Russ knows this better than anyone. Releasing 11 albums with over 80 songs in just five years between 2011 and 2016 is proof. He worked hard through this time even though he got only a small amount of recognition and money.
Although Russ made a lot of mistakes, he didn’t give up, kept improving his craft, and did get better. He started to learn about the business side of his industry. He studied what successful artists did to see how he might grow and succeed.
When looking at bestsellers he found that the top songs were often the first ones on an album. Taking advantage of this, he began releasing “one-song albums.” He came out with one a week for six months on TuneCore, an online music platform.
His efforts worked and he went from making only $620 in June of 2015 to $102,000 the next year.
You too can make your dreams happen. It might take time, hard work, and belief in yourself, but you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain. Start today, stay consistent, and within a few years you could be living large just like Russ.

Final Words

I’m a sucker for inspiring stories, so naturally, I really liked It’s All In Your Head. It’s funny how most people are a little apprehensive of feel-good tales about how hard work triumphs, but Russ made it big and shows that it really works! I really do believe a lot of what holds us back from reaching our dreams is in our head, and I’m grateful for books like this one to remind me of that.