A guy on Quora asked for business advice the other day.
35 years old. Full-time developer. Family man. Two hours a day to spare — and he wanted to start a business.
I didn’t reply.
Not because I didn’t have ideas (believe me, I’ve got more projects than clean socks) but because I’m still in it myself. Still building. Still pivoting. Still praying. Still failing. Still learning.
But his post sat with me.
And it hit me:
If I were him I wouldn’t be starting a business at all.
Here’s why.
I’m 52. I live in Norway. I’ve got a baby, a partner deep in her PhD, and a guitar that’s both saved my life and kept me up at night. I’ve got a sixteen-year-old daughter back in the UK who I think about every day.
And I’m an immigrant.
I don’t speak the language fluently. I’m too old for entry-level jobs. Too foreign for management ones. And honestly? No one’s queuing up to hire a middle-aged troubadour with a dodgy accent and a LinkedIn full of “miscellaneous.”
So building something isn’t optional - it’s survival.
But if I did have a stable job I didn’t hate?
Something that gave me consistency, structure, and space?
Then I’d spend those two sacred hours a day like this:
40 minutes fully present with my kids - not distracted, not “one sec, Daddy’s working,” but actually there. Laughing. Wrestling. Drawing on walls. Eye contact. Joy.
40 minutes fully present with my partner - walking, praying, listening, holding hands, making food, being more than just co-managers of a shared calendar.
40 minutes fully present with myself - and with God.
Reading scripture. Sitting still. Breathing. Writing. Crying if needed. Letting go. Listening. Being fed from a deeper source than just caffeine and productivity podcasts.
That’s the real ROI.
Because the other path? The one we’re sold?
It’s a trap dressed up as progress.
Work 18-hour days. Ignore your family. Burn out your nervous system. But don’t worry — one day you’ll retire and get all that time back.
Right?
Except… it’s a lie.
Jeff Bezos? Got divorced.
Gary Vee? Divorced.
Dan Peña the hard-nosed billionaire who shouts for a living even he admitted recently that if he could do it again, he wouldn’t. He missed too much of his children’s lives. And he knows it.
And these are the men we’re meant to admire. The icons of ambition.
But what’s the goal? Work yourself into legend just to look back and realise you were absent for the very people you claim to be doing it all for?
Most high achievers don’t retire. Not really. They just rebrand the hustle. They keep going. Keep building. Keep proving.
The truth is they don’t know how to stop.
Because stopping would mean facing themselves. And ambition is often just avoidance in a £3,000 suit.
And look …I totally get it.
The world is loud. It tells you you’re not enough. It sells you hustle culture dressed up as "purpose." It tells you to fix yourself through effort, branding, ice baths, morning routines, and peak performance.
But at its root, that’s not productivity.
It’s panic.
We’re trying to earn our worth in a world that keeps changing the price tag.
And here’s the real gut-punch:
Most of it’s just a spiritual problem with a marketing budget.
That feeling of “not enough”?
That itch that keeps you chasing more?
That hunger to prove yourself?
It’s not going away with another goal. Or funnel. Or mastermind.
It only quiets when you reconnect with the One who made you.
That’s why I’m learning to detox from the hustle.
To spend more time in prayer than planning.
To let God set my metrics.
Because at the end of all this all the content, the coaching, the cards, the consulting, the comedy, the songs, the likes there’s only one judgment that matters:
Not “How many followers?”
Not “How much money?”
Not “Did you scale?”
But:
“Did you love Me?
And did you love them?”
That’s the only scoreboard that holds up in the light of eternity.
So yeah, if you’ve got a job that pays the bills and gives you just enough maybe don’t chase more.
Maybe chase presence.
Chase truth.
Chase God.
And the rest?
It’ll fall into place… or it won’t.
But at least you’ll still be you.
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”
— Matthew 16:26
Start your own online Vinyl distribution ElasticStage is the worlds first online vinyl store. As a partnership with them I can highly recommend their services. This can actually be a game changer for independent artists and can add a lot to your income.
(I also receive a very small commission if you sign up)
Final thoughts
What’s your challenge as a musician trying to grow your audience?
Hit reply and let me know—I’d love to help you tackle it!
Remember:
Rejection is correction. Ridicule is fuel. Keep thriving.
Until next time,
Spence C