Growth Starts Where Comfort Ends

I hope some of you managed to catch some sun at some point in our patchy summer, and if not then you found ways to relax and recharge for what promises to be an exciting year. 

Here’s my review/preview: 2025 was better than 2024 but that’s not saying much because 2024 was the worst year I’ve seen in business since the GFC. 

2026 is going to be much better. How do I know? Because my local music shop had their best Christmas since… the GFC. And that was before I got there! 

The world-weary manager thought things were so awful that people said ‘what the hell, I’ll buy an expensive guitar’. I have my doubts.  

What was I doing in a music shop? Bear with me. 

As you know I’m a big user of AI. In fact I use several agents, and I often pit them against each other – Chat GPT has the biggest base (and most annoying voice), Claude is brilliantly commercial, Gemini does amazing deep research.  

I asked Gemini to evaluate our programme against the market. I loaded everything: workbooks, research, our methodology rationale.  

It produced a 3,000-word technical analysis comparing us to competitors. I pushed back on several points; it produced 1,500 more words. Copies of “The Architecture of Agency: An Exhaustive Analysis of the Autodidactic and Affirmational Frameworks within the Active Manager Program” are available on request.  

I did a few iterations and the upshot was this: one of the most powerful elements of our programme is OUT – One Uncomfortable Thing. Feeling the fear and pushing through is the master key to growth. 

Which brings me to my point. For two years I’ve been working on a solo career. Been in bands off and on all my life, but decades since I played solo. I was ready – singing lessons, improved voice, all the gear – yet I’d been an absolute wuss about asking for a gig. 

I finally emailed the Moutere Inn (NZ’s oldest continuously-running pub) and got brushed off. Days later: a cancellation. Could I play New Year’s Eve? Four hours? That was my OUT moment. I had to say yes. Got a guy to support me, but I sang and played every song. It went off like a rocket. 

Only problem: my guitar and amp didn’t handle it well. So I researched a new guitar (thanks ChatGPT), new PA, new amp. Sold off pedals and even my treasured Stratocaster. Awesome! 

And that’s how I came to be in the music shop. All because of One Uncomfortable Thing. 

So how will you get OUT this year?