This last week I received an email from a friend asking for advice: 

Hello Eric,

I hope this finds you well! I have a ? that I have been struggling with for the last several months, since you are knowledgeable about music, there is something inside of me telling me something about my being involved in music, singing specifically.

I am 56, wasted my past and don't want the same for my future. What advice would you offer a guy like me? The specific thought that I have been back and forth between is making a video and send it to the voice audition, or keep being afraid? Thank you! 

Brad

Here's my response: 

Thanks so much for writing! That's great that you're singing! If I was in your place, I think I'd focus on why I want to sing, what I want to get out of it, and make a pro-con list of what I'd like to do and what it would take to get there. I've done this about a million times and it always clears things up for me.

Once you figure out what those things are, the rest is pretty straight forward- you figure out what your budget is, pick who would fit your goal, and go for it. The one thing I'd recommend not doing is setting goals you can't control like "I want to win the Voice", or even "write a song that gets picked up by a record label". I've done this in the past, and found it very frustrating since I really don't have any influence of whether any of it gets accomplished. I'd pick a goal like "write a good song that I love singing", or "create a great looking music video"- something you can control.

Thanks!

Eric