Where Are You Going?

I was reading Guy Kawasaki's excellent book, The Art of The Start, and noted a powerful lesson/story which every musician can benefit from. It goes like this:

Albert Einstein was on a train and couldn't find his ticket after searching his pockets or bags. The conductor approached him and said something to the effect of "Dr. Einstein, everyone knows who you are. We know that Princeton(the school he worked for) can afford to buy you another train ticket."

Einstein replied, "I'm not worried about the money. I need to find the ticket to figure out where I'm going."

Like Einstein, you should not worry about the money before knowing where you are going, i.e, who your music is for and what is your direction. Everything from your lyrics, melodies, progressions, and beats should reflect that audience your music will touch.

If you can figure out where you are going, the money will follow.