This is the most personal thing I’ve written.
Not about strategies, tactics, or tips. Not about algorithms, playlists, or promotion. This is about transformation. About how creating music fundamentally changed who I am as a person, how I see the world, and what I believe is possible.
Before music became central to my life, I was different. Not completely different—the core of who I am was always there—but my mindset, my confidence, my sense of purpose, and my belief in myself were nowhere near where they are now.
Music didn’t just give me a career path or creative outlet. It transformed my entire mental framework. It taught me lessons that changed everything. It made me believe in myself when nothing else did. It gave me a reason to push through difficulty when quitting seemed easier.
I’m Tray Millen. I create dancehall music. But more importantly, I’m someone who was changed by the process of creating, and I want to share that story.
Not because my journey is special or unique, but because I think many of you might see parts of your own story here. And if you’re considering pursuing music seriously, maybe this will help you understand that it offers something beyond fame or money.
Music can change your entire life. Not might. Can. Here’s how it changed mine.
Before Music: Limited Thinking
Let me take you back to who I was before music became my focus.
The Mindset I Had
Limited belief in what was possible:
Growing up in Kingston, Jamaica, I saw the reality around me—the struggles, the limitations, the statistics that said most people don’t make it out of their circumstances. Those observations shaped what I believed was possible for my life.
External locus of control:
I believed my life was largely determined by external factors—where I was born, the opportunities available, the resources I had access to, the connections I lacked. I was passive, waiting for circumstances to be right rather than creating them.
Fear of judgment:
I cared deeply what others thought. That fear kept me small, kept me from expressing myself fully, kept me from trying things that might lead to failure or criticism.
Scarcity mindset:
I believed in limited resources, limited opportunities, limited possibilities. If someone else succeeded, it felt like it reduced my chances. Competition felt threatening, not motivating.
Comfort zone living:
I stayed where things felt safe. I avoided risk, avoided putting myself out there, avoided situations where I might fail publicly.
This was me. Not fundamentally broken, but limited in thinking and belief.
The Turning Point
I can’t point to one single moment when everything changed. It was gradual. But there was a period when I started taking music seriously—not just as a hobby or fantasy, but as something I was actually going to pursue with everything I had.
That decision, and everything that followed, changed my entire mindset and life.
Lesson 1: You Can Create Something From Nothing
The first major shift music created in my mindset.
What Music Taught Me
Before I started creating music consistently:
I was a consumer. I consumed entertainment, consumed content, consumed other people’s creations. I didn’t think of myself as a creator.
When I started making music:
I realized I could create something that didn’t exist before. I could take inspiration, emotion, experience, technical skill, and creative vision, and turn them into something real that moved people.
The shift: From consumer to creator. From passive to active. From waiting for things to happen to making them happen.
How This Changed My Life
Creative confidence:
Realizing I could create music made me believe I could create anything. That confidence extended beyond music into every area of life.
Problem-solving mindset:
Creating music requires solving countless problems—technical, creative, logistical. This developed a problem-solving orientation that applies everywhere.
Agency and ownership:
I stopped waiting for permission or perfect conditions. If I wanted something to exist, I could create it.
The compounding effect:
This lesson—that I could create something from nothing—transformed how I approached everything. Starting a website? I can create that. Building a brand? I can create that. Growing a fanbase? I can create that.
Music taught me: You don’t need everything figured out before you start. You need to start, and figure it out as you go. Creation is an act of faith that becomes reality through action.
Lesson 2: Failure Is Feedback, Not Identity
Music forced me to redefine my relationship with failure.
The Fear That Held Me Back
Before music:
I avoided failure at all costs. Failure felt like confirmation that I wasn’t good enough, smart enough, talented enough. If I failed, it meant I WAS a failure.
Why this paralyzed me:
If failure equals personal inadequacy, you avoid trying anything with risk. You play safe. You never stretch. You never grow.
What Music Forced Me to Face
Reality of creating music:
- Most songs I create aren’t masterpieces
- Many ideas don’t work
- First attempts are usually terrible
- Growth requires trying things that don’t succeed initially
- Failure is literally part of the process
The shift:
I couldn’t avoid failure in music. Every artist has songs that flop, ideas that don’t work, releases that disappoint. Failure was unavoidable, so I had to change how I related to it.
The New Understanding
Failure became data:
When a song doesn’t connect, it’s information. What didn’t work? Why? What can I learn? How do I improve next time?
Failure became necessary:
Growth requires pushing beyond current abilities. That means attempting things you might fail at. No failure = no growth.
Failure became temporary:
Failure isn’t permanent identity—it’s temporary result. Today’s failure is tomorrow’s learning that leads to future success.
Failure became proof of effort:
Only people not trying don’t fail. Failure means I’m actually out there, creating, taking risks, pushing forward.
How This Changed My Life
Reduced fear:
When failure stops feeling like death sentence, you become willing to try things. Take risks. Put yourself out there.
Increased resilience:
I’ve had releases that flopped, shows that were rough, content that got no engagement. Each time, I learned, adjusted, kept going. Resilience grew through repeated exposure to failure and recovery.
Growth acceleration:
When you’re not paralyzed by fear of failure, you try more things, learn faster, improve quicker. Progress accelerates.
The transformation:
Music taught me that failure isn’t the opposite of success—it’s part of the path to success. Every successful artist has hundreds of failures behind them. The difference is they kept creating anyway.
Lesson 3: Discipline Creates Freedom
This lesson changed my relationship with discipline completely.
What I Used to Believe
Discipline felt like prison:
Routine, structure, rules, consistency—all of this felt restrictive and limiting. Freedom, I thought, meant doing whatever I wanted whenever I felt like it.
Motivation was my strategy:
I’d create when inspired, work when motivated, push forward when I felt the energy. When I didn’t feel it? I’d wait for it to return.
The result:
Inconsistent progress. Unreliable results. Inability to build momentum. Frustration that my career wasn’t moving forward despite “working hard” (when I felt like it).
What Music Taught Me
Discipline enables creation:
To build a music career—releasing consistently, posting daily, engaging with fans, improving skills—requires discipline. Waiting for inspiration means waiting indefinitely.
Structure creates space for creativity:
When the business side is handled through discipline (marketing, promotion, communication), mental energy is freed for pure creation.
Consistency compounds:
Disciplined daily action, even small, compounds into massive results over time. Sporadic huge efforts don’t.
The paradox:
Discipline isn’t restriction—it’s the path to freedom. Financial freedom, creative freedom, lifestyle freedom all require discipline first.
How This Changed My Life
Daily routines:
I built routines around creation, content, health, and growth. Not because I always feel motivated, but because discipline makes results inevitable.
Delayed gratification:
I can invest time and energy today into things that won’t pay off for months or years because discipline makes me trust the process.
Reliability:
People can count on me because I show up consistently. That reliability creates opportunities and relationships.
The freedom paradox:
The disciplined structure I maintain has created more freedom than my previous “do whatever whenever” approach ever did. Discipline earned me the freedom to pursue music full-time.
Music taught me: You can’t wait for the right feelings to do the work. You do the work, and the feelings follow.
Lesson 4: Community Over Competition
Music transformed how I see other artists and success.
The Scarcity Mindset I Had
Before:
I saw other artists’ success as threatening. If they were doing well, somehow that meant less for me. Limited opportunities, limited spotlight, limited success available.
The result:
- Jealousy when others succeeded
- Unwillingness to collaborate
- Isolation instead of community
- Comparison that bred resentment
- Competition that felt like warfare
Why this was limiting:
This mindset kept me isolated, bitter, and unable to build the relationships that accelerate careers.
What Music Showed Me
Reality of the music industry:
- There’s no limit to available audience
- Someone streaming another artist doesn’t prevent them from streaming you
- Collaboration expands reach for everyone involved
- Community support accelerates individual growth
- Competition can be motivating, not just threatening
The artists who succeed:
They collaborate. They support each other. They build community. They celebrate others’ wins. They operate from abundance, not scarcity.
The Shift That Happened
Abundance mindset:
Enough opportunities, audience, and success for everyone creating quality music. Someone else’s win doesn’t diminish my potential.
Genuine celebration:
I started genuinely celebrating other artists’ success. Not just pretending—actually feeling happy when peers got wins.
Collaborative spirit:
I sought collaborations, cross-promotions, and mutual support opportunities. Realized that we rise together.
Community building:
Instead of competing against other independent artists, I started building with them—sharing strategies, supporting releases, creating community.
How This Changed My Life
Better relationships:
Shifting from competition to community created genuine friendships with other artists. These relationships enrich my life beyond career benefit.
More opportunities:
Collaboration creates opportunities I’d never have alone. Features, shows, cross-promotion, learning—all accelerated through community.
Mental health:
Celebrating others instead of resenting them is psychologically healthier. Jealousy and bitterness corrode happiness. Support and celebration enhance it.
The lesson:
Music taught me that there’s room for everyone to win. Supporting others doesn’t diminish my success—it enhances it. We go further together.
Lesson 5: Your Voice Matters
The most transformative lesson music taught me.
The Belief I Struggled With
The internal voice:
“Who am I to make music? Nobody cares what I have to say. There are already so many talented artists. What makes me think I have anything to offer?”
Imposter syndrome:
Deep down, I didn’t believe my voice, perspective, or expression mattered. I felt presumptuous for even trying.
The fear:
What if I put myself out there and confirmed that I was right—that nobody cares, that I have nothing valuable to offer?
What Changed Everything
The first time someone told me my music mattered to them:
A message from someone I didn’t know, telling me my track motivated them through a difficult time. That my lyrics resonated. That my energy helped them.
The realization:
My perspective, born from my unique life experience and consciousness, offers something nobody else can. Not because I’m special, but because I’m unique. No one has my exact combination of experiences, perspectives, and expression.
The truth I learned:
Your voice matters not because you’re the most talented or the most polished, but because you’re authentically you. Somewhere, people need to hear exactly what you have to say, exactly how you say it.
How This Changed My Life
Confidence:
Believing my voice matters gave me confidence that extends beyond music into every area of life. My thoughts, opinions, and perspectives have value.
Willingness to be seen:
I stopped hiding. I started putting myself out there—on social media, in content, through music. Visibility no longer felt terrifying.
Authentic expression:
I stopped trying to sound like what I thought people wanted and started expressing what I actually wanted to say.
Purpose:
Realizing my voice matters gave me purpose. I create not just for myself, but for the people my music reaches and impacts.
The transformation:
Music taught me that I don’t need permission to express myself. I don’t need to be perfect or have everything figured out. I just need to be authentic and consistent. The right people will find and value what I offer.
Lesson 6: Process Over Results
This might be the hardest lesson but the most valuable.
What I Used to Focus On
Results obsession:
- How many streams did I get?
- How many followers did I gain?
- Did the song blow up?
- When will I “make it”?
The problem:
Results are largely outside your control. Focusing on them creates anxiety, disappointment, and frustration because you can’t directly control outcomes.
What Music Taught Me
Control the process:
I control showing up, creating, posting, engaging, improving. I don’t control whether a song goes viral or a post gets traction.
Quality process produces results:
Consistent, quality process eventually produces results. Maybe not immediately, maybe not on your timeline, but eventually.
Enjoy the process:
If you only find satisfaction in results, you’ll be miserable most of the time because results are sporadic. Finding satisfaction in process makes the entire journey enjoyable.
The Shift In Focus
From: “Did this release do well?”
To: “Did I create something I’m proud of?”
From: “How many followers did I gain?”
To: “Did I post valuable content consistently?”
From: “When will I get the big break?”
To: “Am I improving and building daily?”
How This Changed My Life
Reduced anxiety:
Focusing on what I control reduces stress and anxiety. I can’t control results, so worrying about them is pointless.
Increased satisfaction:
Finding satisfaction in daily process means I feel fulfilled consistently, not just on rare days when results are good.
Paradoxical result:
Ironically, focusing on process more than results has produced better results. Quality process compound over time into inevitable success.
The lesson:
Music taught me to trust the process. Do the work. Improve daily. Stay consistent. Results take care of themselves when the process is sound.
The Person I’ve Become
Looking back at who I was before music and who I am now, the transformation is undeniable.
Before Music
- Limited thinking and belief
- Fear of failure and judgment
- Passive and waiting for circumstances
- Consumer, not creator
- Scarcity-oriented and competitive
- Doubting my value and voice
- Results-obsessed and anxious
After Music
- Expansive thinking and belief
- Viewing failure as growth opportunity
- Proactive and creating circumstances
- Creator and builder
- Abundance-oriented and collaborative
- Confident my voice matters
- Process-focused and satisfied
This isn’t just about career. This transformation has affected my relationships, my mental health, my daily happiness, my confidence in every area of life.
Music did this. Not overnight. Not easily. But undeniably.
Why I’m Sharing This
Not to brag:
This isn’t about me being special. It’s about what’s possible when you commit to creative pursuit seriously.
To inspire:
If you’re considering pursuing music (or any creative path) seriously, understand it offers transformation beyond external success.
To encourage:
If you’re in the struggle right now—broke, unknown, doubting yourself—know that the process itself is changing you in ways you can’t see yet.
To remind myself:
Writing this reminds me how far I’ve come. On hard days, I need these reminders.
What Music Can Do For You
I don’t know your story or your journey. But I know this:
Creative pursuit changes people.
Not everyone who makes music will become famous or rich. But everyone who genuinely commits to creative expression experiences transformation.
You will:
- Discover capabilities you didn’t know you had
- Develop discipline that serves you everywhere
- Build confidence through repeated creation
- Learn to handle failure and criticism
- Connect with people who value your expression
- Find purpose in impact you create
- Develop skills that compound throughout life
The question isn’t: “Will I make it as a musician?”
The question is: “Am I willing to be changed by the process?”
If you are, the journey is worth it regardless of external outcome.
My Invitation to You
If you’re creating music:
Embrace the transformation happening in you. Notice how it’s changing your mindset, your confidence, your capabilities. The music itself is valuable, but who you’re becoming through the process might be more valuable.
If you’re considering starting:
Don’t wait for perfect conditions or guarantees. Start. Let the process begin changing you. You might be surprised who you become.
If you’re struggling:
Remember that the difficulty is part of what’s transforming you. The challenges you’re facing are developing capabilities you’ll carry forever.
The Gratitude I Feel
I’m grateful for music. Not just because it’s my career path, but because it fundamentally changed who I am as a person.
It taught me I could create.
It taught me failure isn’t fatal.
It taught me discipline creates freedom.
It taught me community beats competition.
It taught me my voice matters.
It taught me to trust process over results.
These lessons changed my life.
And they’ll continue to change it as I keep creating, keep building, keep growing through this journey.
This is why I create music as Tray Millen. Not just to build a career or achieve fame. But because the process of creating transforms me into someone I’m proud to be.
And I want to keep becoming better through this craft I love.
Your Journey
Whatever your creative pursuit—music, writing, art, entrepreneurship, anything—embrace the transformation it offers.
The external results matter. Of course they do. But who you become through the process matters more.
Because long after specific achievements fade, the person you developed into through creative pursuit remains.
That’s the real success.
Let the journey change you. Trust that growth is happening even when you can’t see it. Keep creating. Keep pushing forward.
You’re becoming someone extraordinary through this process.
I see you. I’m with you. Let’s keep building.
This journey continues. Subscribe to the TrayMillen.com newsletter for real talk about the transformation that happens through creative pursuit. Follow me on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube for authentic behind-the-scenes looks at this ongoing journey.
We’re all becoming better through our craft. That’s what matters most.
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