Everyone used to tell me that I couldn’t do it that way.

When I said I wanted to be a professional drummer in my own solo band, sell my own drum MIDI packs, play solo live shows, and record online drum tracks for bands from all over the world…everyone said I was crazy.

In fact, prestigious people in the industry tried to get me to change professions.

My first drum instructor told me on my very first lesson:

“Cody…you’re playing ahead of the tempo, you’re hitting the drums too hard, and you don’t seem to be following the notes…you’re just making up your own beat. Maybe you should consider another hobby.”  

At one point in my teenage years, I played in 5 different bands. Every single one fell apart around me. Players left for college and stopped playing, band members decided weed was cooler than playing music, some got jelous, others got scared, and some just decided to “grow up and get a real job”. Advice they passionately passed on to me as well.

When I told people I wanted to be an individual investor and find my own financial freedom by picking my own individual stocks my friends laughed at me. I’ll never forget the advice I got from the instructor of the first investment course I took…

“99% of individual investors will never beat the S&P 500…what makes you think you can?”

Most business books and “successful” entrprenuers will tell you that you need to pick one subject, one job, one thing, and be really, really good at that. I tried to heed this advice for years, and I was miserable. I listened to my guidance counselor, and my teachers, and the gurus in the industries. I read all the books attended classes, went to seminars, and was always left feeling empty and lifeless inside from the boring and predictable advice. I listened to all the people telling me that “doing it all” was a pipedream and would never work.

So, I became a professional drummer that plays in his own solo band, I sell my own drum MIDI packs, I play live solo shows, I record online drum tracks for musicians all over the world, I invest in my own stock ideas, and I help individual investors perform deep research on investment ideas they are considering to help them beat the S&P 500.   

Life is a canvas that we all construct for ourselves. If I followed any of the previous advice I was given, maybe I would have more money, be more successful, or be “happier”. 

But I’m glad I didn’t.

I decided to be me instead.