My #1 Mistake That Stopped Me From Becoming a Top DJ

Welcome to the Paul Vette podcast for peak performers who know 90 percent is not an option. The biggest mistake I made when I was a DJ has ensured that I never became that top DJ. It has also ensured that right now I don't have millions of followers and therefore I can make less impact. That's the reason I regret not becoming that top DJ myself. That doesn't feel like something that hurts anymore. But it is something I've learned enormously from. Because it was that one thing that prevented me from reaching the top, and multiple DJs I played with said it. And these are really DJs who told me this who did reach that top. Who all made it into the world's top 10. They said Paul, they said 2 things. 1, you're too nice and 2, because of that you're not yourself. And that's the most important one. Being yourself, authenticity. Because I could adapt to the audience I was standing in front of. But I always adapted too much. So that meant that people in that audience once thought wow this is a cool DJ and then they saw me the next time and then I played differently because the audience was different. And the people who thought I was cool the first time thought the second time well not again. And then there were people standing there who thought I was cool and played well. And then they thought the next time again well not there again. They just didn't know what they were getting, because I didn't stay authentic to myself. So that meant that at the core I also wasn't sharing my own values and beliefs with them. I was just a mask. It was a role I was playing. And that role I was playing wasn't close to who I am. Because of that I was constantly adapting. And I see this constantly happening around me now, because now it seems as if let me ask you this right away. Do you know who you are? And that question might be too big, but would you know who you are if you didn't listen to other opinions for a week? So many opinions pass by, including mine, directed at you. But suppose you wouldn't listen to others' opinions for a week or 30 days. Are you even able to form your own opinion? To listen to who you are or would you then be searching? Which is good right if you would do that. But this problem was so big that I just hit the ceiling. I was just a DJ who got booked at parties, but never as the main act. Never as that magnetic DJ who stood for something. I had no own style, I had no own face, no own voice. Not at all. Why not? I just didn't dare. I didn't dare to be myself. That's something that still hurts me now. Because that's something I now promise myself, to always try to be true to myself. To act towards that at least, to search for that. And when I get information from within myself, when I feel something or when I think something, then I test it. What do I feel with a thought, then I try to act accordingly. That still doesn't always work, because it's a quest. And honestly, I'm also someone who loves personal growth. So I'm growing too. And in some periods so fast that it's almost difficult to keep up with myself. That's why I have to keep checking with myself all the time. Okay am I doing the right thing? Is my behavior in line with who I want to be? Are my emotions aligned with who I want to be? And by wanting to be I don't mean the role but the authentic self that I feel. That sits in me and that can take me further. That's what I also believe with my mission, that when you can also keep checking in with yourself, okay what are the unconscious behaviors or thoughts in myself, the stories I tell myself when that surfaces, can that then be aligned with where I'm moving towards? Or do I find that a less pleasant aspect of myself? And if that's a less pleasant aspect of myself, is it a natural tendency from within myself to act that way? Or does it come from old patterns? Maybe traumas, maybe old behavior, maybe a conviction from your ego, maybe holding on to values and beliefs or holding on to a certain system, a family system or a home system or maybe even a system you used to be in at school. That you then want to keep holding on to because it once served you. When you keep testing better, hey is this my path? Or am I letting all other people worldwide convince me what my path is? And the closer you come and can come to yourself, the easier it will become for you. And by easier I don't mean that life can't be difficult, certainly not. I just hope that when you choose challenges yourself through which you grow, I strongly believe in that myself, that those are the challenges that bring you closer to the goal you choose, what you go for. Not what others have told you or convinced you of or what you've come to believe through what others said to you or still say. When you express a dream, what do others say to you then? Do you believe them or do you believe yourself? And do you feel that too? So with yourself of course the check. What's playing unconsciously? And you only get the unconscious to surface by very simply really taking a step back from the rat race of life. And just do at least 30 minutes. From 20 minutes it starts to come, so that's why at least 30 minutes just writing. Just writing what comes to mind with the goal of exploring your unconscious. Yes, then things surface. And then looking at okay, what behavior do you display? And do you want to display that behavior too? What emotions do you experience? And do you want to experience those emotions too? People think you can't change emotions, but that's bullshit. It can't in the moment itself, but it can by adjusting triggers. In the sense of how you react to a trigger, but I've recorded another video about that. You can adjust your emotions, adjust your behavior, adjust the stories you tell yourself, adjust the unconscious and adjust your environment. And when all of that is increasingly aligned with how you feel deep inside and how you want to be, then your identity switches. Then you make a shift from this identity you now call yourself much more towards that identity you actually want to be in life. And then from that identity I wish for you that you then go for the highest attainable. Because when you then go for the highest attainable, then it is aligned with who you are. And then you don't feel that gap that I do feel. That I stood here as a DJ, but that I could have come here. And if you're listening to the podcast, well just imagine that I was at 30 percent, while I could have reached 100 percent. Or at least could have approached it and not stayed stuck at 30 percent. Because that's what's possible when you are authentic. Because you have unique talents, you have unique primal forces and primal talents that give you an advantage over all other people. Not as a competition point, but because you are different. You are unique. You have a certain skillset that no one else has. That automatically gives you a right to exist and an added value to cultivate that too. To ensure that all that raw power in you, those talents in you, that are still dimmed a bit, wherever you stand. So even if you're already playing at the highest level somewhere, 100 percent certain that you can go to an even higher level. 100 percent. The problem is if you're already number 1 in the world, then there's only 1 person, and that's on the other hand also an advantage, against whom you fight to become better, namely yourself. And it's always about being better today than who you were yesterday. And one day that works and another day it doesn't. But if you do your best for that every day, then you grow. But aligned with who you are. Authenticity, being able to come close to yourself and from there act, speak, think, feel, adjust your environment. Then you're authentic, then you're yourself. And from there you can go much further than when you conform to an image where others say how you should behave. That would be a shame. --- This transcript has been translated from Dutch.