The Most Inspiring Taylor Swift Youtube Video You Will Watch This Year
How Taylor Beat The Music Industry
Ryan Holiday gets all the credit for making Stoicism relevant.
He didn’t accomplish this by reiterating the works of old, crusty Roman guys who lived 2,000 years ago. Although, he wrote a book about that, too.
He made Stoicism cool by taking people we know and highlighting examples from their lives when they acted Stoically. The people in his stories aren’t self-proclaimed Stoics. Most couldn’t tell you what it is. It’s not a religion where someone stands up and says I’m a Christian or Buddhist.
It’s just something you do.
Anyone can be a lowercase stoic, as Ryan likes to say.
His videos and books are full of them, and his latest example really caught my attention.
How Taylor Swift Used Stoicism to Beat The Music Industry
This video gave me goosebumps the first time I watched it.
Swifties know the story, but here’s the recap if you missed it:
In 2019, music mogul Scooter Braun purchased Big Machine Label Group and inherited the rights to Taylor’s Masters catalog.
What does that mean? Well, Taylor loses her own music. Decades worth of work gone through a shady business deal— basically overnight. It was indeed a dark representation of the music industry.
At the time, artists were getting screwed left and right by deals like this one. The reaction from the public was acquiescence. “Who cares? They’re still making millions. They have a fake job. They get to be a celebrity. Stop whining.”
As Ryan points out, Stoicism isn’t about minimizing one’s horrible experience. We often diminish the challenging things that happen to us. We deem them unworthy or not big enough compared to what other people deal with.
The important thing is how you feel about it.
Taylor felt cheated and hurt by what happened.
That’s all that matters.
Stoicism Thrives in Moments Just Like This
Taylor didn’t want any of it to happen.
What could she do?
There was a period of grief, but she eventually accepted the reality of the situation. Those songs were long gone. It’s unfair. It’s an injustice. But it happened.
Once you accept the horrible thing, that’s the moment you get back to work.
In Taylor’s case, she reads a tweet from Kelly Clarkson, suggesting that she rerecords her entire music catalog. Taylor took it to heart when most people thought it was a joke. She starts rerecording her albums and publishes them as “Taylor’s Version.”
I should mention that she’s simultaneously pumping out new music at a shocking pace.
Then something amazing happened.
The Taylor’s Version albums introduced her to an entirely new generation of fans— both younger and older.
The albums slingshot The Era’s Tour — the biggest ticket concert in music history, making her a billionaire and the most famous person in the world.
She becomes Times Person of the Year.
Then she breaks Grammy records by winning her 4th album of the year, which no one has ever done.
Stoicism Gives You Permission to Finish the Story
It is said that the artist’s job is to take an experience and render it into something beautiful, better, or different.
I’m reminded of one of my favorite paintings by Claude Monet. It’s this hauntingly beautiful portrait of a burning tree called Weeping Willow.
It’s a masterpiece if you ask me.
People don’t realize that the portrait was completed at the height of WWI. The Germans were closing in on his villa in Givenchy. His son Michel served on the front lines.
Again, not something he would’ve wished for.
Artists take an experience and make something from it.
I believe that’s all our jobs, to some degree.
The entrepreneur who fails a venture, but takes what they learned and builds something better.
The college basketball team that loses in the first round to a 16 seed, but uses the loss to springboard them to national title the following year.
Ryan calls this Amor Fati—a certain love of everything that happens to you because those obstacles ultimately help you reach your full potential.
Life Can be More Amazing Than You Can possibly imagine.
If you take anything away from Taylor’s story, it’s this:
We don’t control the thing that happens to us. Life sucks sometimes. But we do control how we respond.
When I was going through a difficult time, my friend and entrepreneur Anthony Mcguire would tell me, “Life can be more amazing than you can possibly imagine.”
It was a reminder that great things are born from challenging moments.
Does it require “fearless” — ness?
Sure does.
Is there work involved?
You bet.
But you’re always in control of how the story will end.