iiwi: Is It Worth It?

A life question to turn stupidity into greatness

The gift of failure

I started asking this question a long time ago when I was a teenager. I’d got my first exam results and failed five out of eight subjects. To me, this was a serious fail. I just hadn't done the work for it, and I'd been stupid. Really stupid. Honestly, there are only a few things in life that can be as stupid as this. 

For example, it meant:

• No chance of going to university

• No access to a professional career

• No chance to properly provide for my future family

And more. So the big decision was, how to fix this? 

• Some boys at my school decided to leave and work in a store or join their family business, albeit without any reasonable qualifications. 

• Other boys have the humility of joining a small group of people that decided to do the whole thing again: retaking the entire year and having a better go at the exams. And retaking was like being thrown into prison. 

So, in the middle of this dark moment of my teenage stupidity, embarrassed with my family and friends, somehow God gave me one of the most wonderful and important, life-changing gifts in the form of a question: the ‘iiwi question’: 

Is It Worth It?

Staring at the prospect of a painful year to retake these exams, was it worth it? Yes, it was. 

My aim was to get more passes than anyone in the school. From stupid to greatness, in my way of looking at it. And I did. And university, career, and future providing all became available to me. But the decision to ask the iitw question every time from then on was a gift, an important gift that has taken with me like a best friend along many other journeys in life. 

iiwi for Songwriting

So why am I talking about this here? It’s exactly the same with songwriting. After leaving my investment banking day job, which some people would think was stupidity, I’m sure, I decided to figure out what I needed to make songwriting happen. 

Every songwriter has their own idea of greatness. Whether it be hitting the top spot on the charts, having your music sung in church, or gaining fame and fortune - everyone's aspirations are different.

At the beginning of my songwriting career, I had four main goals:

1. Craft. Developing my craft to a pro-level, not just ok but well enough to genuinely add value to my co-writers

2. Network. Getting signed by a major music publisher. I had a 5-year songwriter business plan (which, I admit, most songwriters don’t have business plans)

3. Recognition. For nominating for major awards, like a DOVE or a GRAMMY

4. Community. Teaching and writing to help others along their own journey 

So, how has this gone? 

Well, the journey has been nothing but amazing. And God has been in the centre of it all, of course. All of these have been achieved. And the iiwi question helped: was it worth it? Yes, it was. 

The songwriting world has changed quite dramatically over the 20 years I’ve been on this journey, and as a result, I’ve changed my goals to flow with this. For example: 

• Berklee Music School was a spectacular experience to bring my craft to levels I’d never have a chance to do, especially under the guidance of Pat Pattison. 

• Without this, I’d never have gotten signed by Universal Music in Nashville, which was a blast. 

• Getting nominated for a GRAMMY, my first ever cut song by a main artist, was more than I ever wanted, thanks to my publisher, Holly Zabka. 

• Helping others along the journey is what this is all about. Well, this and writing books are about this in songwriting. Both books have been Amazon's #1 best sellers in their categories, and every now and again, they pop up and down. I couldn't want more. 

But these are just my own songwriter aims. I also have aims in other parts of my life, which have brought me to board-level work, which I still enjoy, and combining creativity alongside a professional career makes it richer than it would otherwise have been. 

In hindsight, deciding to retake my exams was the best thing to do. And ended up being a wonderful experience.

Questions

Here are some questions –

1. What are your songwriter goals? They will be different from mine, I'm sure.

2. What goals do you currently have in your songwriting work? Is is worth it?

3. What other parts of your life is not working and similarly asking the iiwi also?

Hope this helps!

Simon

www.simonhawkins.com