Your Word

Your word is the most important thing that you have. In fact, stripping everything else away, it’s the only thing that you have to lean on in this world.

I never knew how strongly I felt about this subject until I had reached an important verbal agreement with someone in the early days of Next Big Sound and he proceeded to break his word (you know who you are). I was shell-shocked that someone could knowingly, and intentionally, disregard their own word to my face and it made a lasting impression on me.

It’s probably good that my naïveté was shattered early so I could protect myself and team from future issues but it still astonishes me that someone could be so short-sighted that they’d be willing to ruin their name and reputation over anything.

My personal mission statement is to:

Earn the respect of as many people as possible and have as much fun as I humanly can along the way.

Living up to your word is a cornerstone of respect and that’s one of the reasons I’m incredibly conscious of making sure my words and actions are as aligned as possible.