Over the years many of the people I have done workshops and keynote presentations for have asked me “how did you get to do what you do”? Some of them feel that they would like to walk a similar path and want advice as to how to follow in my footsteps. My usual response has been to tell them that we would have to spend a couple of days together in order for me to tell them the whole story. My journey to becoming an author, speaker and being on PBS took many years and was fraught with difficulty and hard times. I realize there are many similar stories, but I also have witnessed how much easier it is today to become “famous”. Andy Warhol’s predication that everyone would attain fifteen minutes of fame is now truly available. It really doesn’t matter if you’ve worked hard at your craft, studied, networked, or focus on being the best you can be. That type of criteria used to be the template for success. Today, if you can do something, anything that is considered bizarre, rude or dysfunctional, and you put yourself on YouTube, you have a good chance of “being discovered”. A case in point is Rebecca Black’s “Friday” video. It has had over 100,000 viewers. A company called Ark Music Factory will fly your child, who needs to be between the ages of 13-17 ,to Los Angeles, will write her a ”hit”, record it in a super-compressed auto tuned compression, shoot an edge detection overlay video and BAM!, your child can notch up a couple of thousand hits on YouTube and watch your dreams of being a pop-star parent percolate. No matter whether, you’re vegetable, mineral, or a bug, you can now make a fortune if you know how to work the viral community. How does any of this help us learn how to handle the inevitable ups and downs of arriving at our goals? Our failures are just as important as our successes. It seems that today failure is not an option and cannot be experienced since everyone is told they are capable of being able to do anything. Singing in particular can be manipulated by equipment to make you sound as if you can really sing. And even if you can’t there are plenty of people who will make you famous because you made a fool of yourself. Frankly I’m going to hold onto what I learned from my family of origin. Work hard at what you want to do, and do it with excellence in mind. Don’t get full of yourself and believe you’re better than you are. Be grateful towards those who help you along the way and never take your successes for granted.