David Andrew Wiebe's Development Blog

 It's December 24th as I record this—Christmas Eve for those who celebrate. Whatever you celebrate (or don't), I hope you have an amazing holiday season. Eat all the delicious food. Get together with people you love. Have a great time. Here's wishing you a fantastic holiday season. As you've probably figured out, these behind-the-scenes videos are just vlogs. A chance for me to be a little more unfiltered and raw. I hope you've enjoyed the video series so far. There's more to come, but there will be a short break in content for the holidays. Here's where to find more: Bookmark davidandrewwiebe.com. Join my Facebook group, Spark Infinity. Subscribe to the Creativity Excitement Emotion podcast (I'm reviving it!). What's been happening with this video series? I've been documenting the results of creating these videos—videos where I virtually never introduce myself and never give a call to action (except maybe to ask for comments). So what am I ge...

Are you hoping against hope that the Spotify thing is going to work out for you? Look at all the news stories. All the musician coaches. All the people pushing Spotify. It's got to be a good thing, right? If you've been an artist for any length of time, you know payouts for streaming royalties are dismal. Maybe you've seen a little improvement year over year, depending on how your listenership has increased. But you can't possibly believe this is someday going to work out for you—that you're going to make a living wage from streaming royalties. It's crazy to me that people spend so much time and energy on this. Even at conferences, musicians flock to the sessions about Spotify and ignore the ones about music entrepreneurship—which is where they should be going. As artists, we are entrepreneurs. That's just a fact of life. That's the way things are now. I can point you to so many opportunities that are far better than Spotify. If you just replace all that...

Why you need multiple teachers over a lifetime, not just one system. Have you taken a lot of courses? Stuck to a personal development program for 5, 10, even 20 years? Here's what I've noticed: people resist reverting back to their old ways. When they do, they make themselves wrong. They make themselves the enemy. "There must be something wrong with me. It's not the program's fault. It's not the coach's fault. It's my fault. I'm not tying in tight enough. I'm not doing the work." That's not how I've gotten to where I am. I'm not someone who enjoys staying stuck. I give things time—maybe 3 years, maybe 5. But beyond that, if I'm not seeing progress, I'm not going to blame myself. I'm also not going to blame the program. The program was fine. I got what I got out of it. But I'm also going to say, "It might be time for something new." So ask yourself: are you okay with being stuck? You can tie in tighter t...

"You're a loser if you don't build this business." That's what I was told. In private coaching sessions. Shouted from stages at conferences. I was young, ambitious, looking for freedom. So I bought it wholesale. Following that advice for five years nearly cost me my identity. The advice wasn't just about business tactics—it was about behavioral modification. In network marketing, I was told I had to fit a mold, talk a certain way, dress a certain way, only associate with winners, focus on duplication, not on questioning the system. I was told my independence—what makes me uniquely creative—was the weakness that would keep me broke. If I wanted the homes, the cars, the watches, the suits? I had to sacrifice myself. So I tried. I became the good soldier. I did what I was told. I even listened when they said I shouldn't sponsor certain people because they weren't at my level. I was told I was too high quality to waste time on the wrong recruits. But it wa...

 How do you evaluate expert advice without losing yourself? It's tough. You need a framework. Ask yourself these six questions: Does it align with your core values? My core values: autonomy, integrity, freedom. If someone told me, "Work 80 hours a week for $40,000 a year," I'd have questions. Does it respect your unique wiring and personality? So much advice assumes anybody could do this, everybody should be doing this. But some people will be miserable doing what experts recommend. I'm creative. I do my best work alone—practicing guitar, producing music, writing, making art. If an opportunity requires me to be out all the time at clubs, bars, parties, networking events? That's not me. Is it a tool or a complete system? A technique might get you the date (or contract, or opportunity). But three dates in, you're in a relationship—and all the things that worked to get attention have nothing to do with the new situation. A tool is nice. But most businesses...

 How do you rebuild your confidence after a major disappointment? You may go through some disappointing experiences in your artistic ventures, business ventures, or whatever else you might be pursuing. And those experiences can be disappointing—sometimes maybe even low-key traumatic. More often than not, there are people involved. Clients. Partners. Relationships you've built up with vendors. Perhaps you've given your word to complete certain tasks or made promises to customers. And there's usually some messiness that comes along with having to pull the plug, step away, pivot, or decide to do things differently. I certainly experienced disappointment in my network marketing efforts. It wasn't just that I lost my business. I lost my faith. I lost the girl. And my financial situation really wasn't in a great place at the time. I remember spending that summer quite depressed. And I really think it was more than just circumstantial. But as I said in an earlier video,...

 "You'd be a total loser if you give up on yourself." That's what they tell you in network marketing. "This is the best business ever." "You'd be an idiot to quit." And clearly, this is coming from people who believe what they're saying. But here's the thing: the business pretty much works with or without you—especially if you're at a low pin level. It works on attrition. They know a certain number of people are going to leave after a certain point. They can predict when that's going to happen. The business really does work on a whole bunch of people buying products every month and doing nothing else in their businesses. So are you a loser if you quit? Are you a loser if you give up on yourself? Here's the thing: I never gave up on my dreams. I may have said, "This business isn't right for me." I may have said, "This other opportunity wasn't right for me either." But that doesn't mean I gav...

 Let me tell you something: if you're planning to get into network marketing, you should rent out your brain to your mentors. That's how the business works. Ask them about everything. Changes in your life. Spending money. Travel plans. Everything should be brought to your mentors and filtered through them. That's how you grow your business in network marketing—by working with your mentors and listening to what they tell you to do. But here's the problem: If you have any counter intentions—if you aren't actually looking to build the business, if you're still poking around, going, "I'm not too sure this is for me"—then there are definitely some dangers in renting out your brain to mentors. Bottom line? They're gonna make a lot of decisions on your behalf. Including financial decisions. And they're not necessarily thinking what's going to be best for you, how they can support your passions, how they can support your personal goals. They...

I spent 5 years in network marketing. And honestly? I was excited about every aspect of it. The business. The compensation plan. The products. The people—because they were ambitious, chasing financial freedom, and actually living personal development. The company I joined had a world-class training system. I got exposed to books, CDs, MP3s, training from upline mentors who'd achieved higher levels in the business. That's where I learned the core fundamentals of business. I'd had some business experience before, but what I got through network marketing? I couldn't find anywhere else. I learned how to legitimize a business, how to work daily towards your dreams, the cashflow quadrant—fundamentals that still sit at the foundation of everything I do today. So there were a lot of positives. Including new business ideas. I even invested in a company because I had an idea and found people already doing what I wanted to do. That investment didn't exactly work out. But I don...

I taught guitar for over 10 years. And I hated it. It should have been a dream job. I got paid to play music. I connected with other musicians. I could practice or write between students. But teaching guitar one-on-one, 30 to 40 students a week? It felt like a grind. Meanwhile, I knew teachers handling 60, 70, even 80 students a week—and they loved it. They'd been doing it for 10, 20, 30 years. That's when I realized: The problem wasn't me. It was the vehicle. Here's what creatives often don't realize: You could be doing something you're great at. Something in your field. Something you're getting paid for. And you think, "I should be grateful. Maybe I just need to push through, and the hate will turn into love." But that's how we justify things as creatives. We stay loyal far longer than we should. So how do you know if your vehicle is wrong? Here are 5 signs: (1) You dread it. (2) It doesn't give you leverage. (3) You feel trapped by someo...

I thought teaching guitar would be my dream job. At 15, I knew I wanted to be a performer. At 17, I picked up the guitar. I had a great teacher who told me I surpassed him within one lesson (impossible, but it kept me motivated). I had a natural knack for it. Some talent. But I still had to develop it as a skill. About a year and a half later, my teacher was leaving his job at a music store. He asked if I wanted to take his place teaching guitar. I said yes. It sounded cool. So I started teaching. And within a very short amount of time, I realized: This might not be for me. Teaching guitar drained me. Fast. Sure, it was nice that I got to play my instrument so much. If a student didn't show up, I could sit there and practice, mess around with tone, try different things. But I had to give a lot of attention to the students. Make sure they were doing the right thing. Make sure they were practicing. And I'd often find a face staring back at me. "Have you mastered that skill a...

How did I get to where I am today? People ask me this all the time. And honestly? It wasn't by picking a destination on a map and saying, "This is where I want to go." Sure, I had visions. Feelings. Notions of where I wanted to go. But it was never clearly articulated or defined. There were different steps. A lot of lessons. A lot of years in between. From 2014 to 2016, I said yes to everything. Opportunity was flowing. I was juggling multiple gigs—teaching, blogging, ghostwriting—whatever came my way. In 2016, I stepped away from everything else and focused on blogging and ghostwriting because they were the most profitable things in my life. I focused on the goose that laid the golden egg. That took me all the way up to 2024. Then 2024 happened. Everything fell apart. No contracts coming in. Sponsorship deals weren't working out. Freelancing gigs weren't coming together. And the few gigs that were coming together? They weren't paying me enough. But you know w...

Why do so many brilliant creatives stay broke? You do great work. You put your best foot forward. You pour everything into your craft. And yet… you still struggle to make an income. You still can't get your work in front of the right audience. Sound familiar? In this post (and video), I break down three reasons why so many talented creatives struggle financially—and what to do about it. First, stubbornness. I'm guilty as sin of this one. My value of freedom was so strong that I refused to compromise. It had to be my way. I was unyielding. Unbending. But you know what happened when I started saying yes instead of no? I found a lot of work. High-paying work. In a variety of different capacities. Some of the coolest contracts I've ever done came through things that initially looked like nothing I would normally do. Second, you're convinced of the superiority of your product. I've worked really hard on my craft. I think my writing is really good. I think I'm a great...

I almost didn't pick up the phone. 2011. The worst year of my life. Working five jobs. Falling behind on mortgage payments. Barely keeping my head above water. Then one day, my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number. It looked like spam. I was in the habit of ignoring calls like that. But for some reason… I picked up. It was the bank. "We can refinance your mortgage," they said. I had no idea what that even meant. "What would that allow me to do?" I asked. They started explaining how it would change the amount I was paying. How it could put a bunch of money back in my pocket. "Sign me up. Say no more. If it's going to put money back in my pocket, I want to do this immediately." It was a windfall. And here's the weird thing about windfalls: Most people find themselves back in the same situation they were before they got the windfall about a year to a year and a half later. Refinancing my mortgage was the right move. It made a lot of sense...

 I was working five jobs in 2011. Driving all over Calgary. 50, 60, 70 hours a week. Falling behind on bills. And the hustle? It didn't save me. Not because I wasn't working hard enough. I was working too hard at the wrong things. In this post (and video), I break down why hustle alone doesn't work—and what I learned from one of the hardest financial seasons of my life. I was living in established patterns that weren't serving me. I was supporting a lifestyle I couldn't actually afford. I was too spread out—five jobs meant no focus, no leverage, just survival mode. I had no time to find better opportunities. I was trying to do too much myself without the support I needed. And there were invisible expenses to the hustle—costs I couldn't see because I was too busy to notice. My mindset was also off. I wasn't trying to find a job. I was trying to find a calling, a purpose, a passion. And while that's noble, I wasn't being pragmatic about my practical...

If you watched my last two videos, you probably heard some of my values come screaming through. In this post (and video), I want to break down the three values that define success for me: freedom, love, and self-determination. Freedom means the ability to do what I want, when I want, with whom and where. This is why I was so drawn to self-employment initially and entrepreneurship ultimately. I love how Derek Sivers describes it as "the Playground for adults." I never wanted to stop playing. I haven't stopped being a child ever. I just want to keep playing, keep experimenting, and keep enjoying myself for the rest of my life. Love is something that's emerging as a value of mine. I'd often hear people talk about things like self-love and think to myself, "That's just nonsense, isn't it? What does that even mean?" But there were some valuable lessons for me in that. It seems like most things in life begin with self. The outer world reflects your inn...

It's 2014. I'm living in a basement room in a house full of roommates, working away at my own venture. The year before, I'd lost pretty much all my contract work, freelancing gigs, and part-time jobs. Now I was trying to drum something up from scratch, surviving on maybe $500 a month. I had an unpaid intern working with me at the time. He didn't always show up on time or put in a full day's work, but he was looking for something too — and he thought maybe internet marketing was it. As with most things, there's no such thing as overnight success. But I had a decision to make: Do I go looking for work again? Do I try to find a job? Or am I going to keep building my business? The decision I made was: I'm going to keep building my business. Because I didn't see the alternative as an option. I'd already been in jobs where I did things I didn't like, for far too little money, around people I didn't enjoy. It was time to take a chance on myself. I...