This is just another rep💪.
You know how strength training works. You do not walk into the gym one day and expect to lift your heaviest weight with perfect form, perfect breathing, perfect confidence. You build the muscle over time. You learn what works for your body. You learn what injuries you are prone to. You learn how to warm up, how to recover, how to fuel yourself.
If you're a singer, you know it's the same when developing your voice.
You get stronger because you showed up again and again, even when you can't see the incremental progress. And, even when you feel like it's one step forward and two steps back.
Releasing music can work the same way with a little mindset shift.
Now, I need to address something, because if you've been in my world for a while, you've heard me say things like “you can’t do it over” and the idea that you do not want big regrets because you missed crucial promo or monetization opportunities.
I still stand by that, especially when we are talking about a full album or EP.
An album is a bigger investment. More songs, more cost, more moving parts, more emotional weight. If you push it out with no plan and no follow-through, it is easy to feel like you wasted the moment.
But a single is different.
A single can be a rep💪.
A single can be a siloed, focused practice round where you build your release muscle, refine your systems, and test one new thing without feeling like your whole identity is on the line.
Here is what tends to happen when we treat one release like it is "do or die."
You keep tinkering with the plan because it has to be perfect, so you delay and delay and delay.
Or you decide you are going to do everything you have ever wanted to do all at once. Ads, playlists, PR, videos, a giant launch event, a multi-week content series, a dozen collaborations. You burn out halfway through, and then you disappear, feeling discouraged and a little embarrassed.
Or you get so exasperated by the whole planning process that you go into avoidance mode. You release a bunch of music at once because you just want it out, and you miss the chance to actually learn what helps people find you and connect with you from one release to the next.
Or you put so much emotional weight on the outcome that if it does not go well, it knocks you flat. You crawl under the covers and you spend days in the fetal position replaying it in your head, questioning everything, wondering if you should even keep going.
None of those outcomes are what you want.
And if you've done any of these (I sure have) it doesn't mean you failed as an artist.
It just means the pressure got too heavy.
There is a reason this happens, and it is not because you are weak or flaky or “bad at marketing.” When we crank up the stakes, our brain often shifts into threat mode. Instead of creativity and clarity, we get self-consciousness and second-guessing. Research on performance under pressure shows that high stakes can actually disrupt skilled performance because we start monitoring ourselves too closely and trying to control every movement instead of letting what we have practiced flow naturally.
In release terms, that can look like overthinking every decision, obsessing over the perfect plan, and losing your ability to take simple, steady action.
Pressure also feeds perfectionism, and perfectionism has a sneaky cousin named procrastination. When the standard in your head is unrealistically high, delaying can feel safer than finishing. You can stay in planning mode and tell yourself you are being responsible, when really you are trying to avoid the discomfort of being seen before it feels “ready.”
So what do we do instead?
We decide, on purpose, that each single is a rep.
That means each release has a simple structure you can repeat, and each time you run the structure, you get stronger.
You are not trying to master everything at once. You are building a repeatable release rhythm that fits your life, your energy, and your season.
You pick one primary goal for the release. Maybe it is growing your email list. Maybe it is getting more saves and follows on Spotify. Maybe it is getting more people to your YouTube channel. Maybe it is selling a small bundle. Maybe it is booking a few local shows.
You choose one new thing to test. Just one. Something you can measure and learn from. Maybe you try a different kind of pre-save strategy. Maybe you do one live stream focused on the story behind the song. Maybe you reach out to a handful of playlist curators in a way that feels human and aligned. Maybe you run a tiny ad budget for five days so you can learn what kind of creative gets clicks without spiraling into an expensive experiment.
Then you document what happened.
What felt easy.
What felt heavy.
What moved the needle.
What surprised you.
What you never want to do again.
That last one is important. Don't ignore it!
Because even if your release does not go how you hoped, you still gained something valuable. You gathered data. You strengthened your consistency muscle. You practiced letting your music be seen. You proved to yourself that you can complete a cycle and come out the other side.
That kind of confidence is not motivational-quote confidence. It is earned confidence. It is the kind that comes from evidence.
And evidence is what so many women need when they are returning to music after years of putting everyone else first. You do not need more hype. You need proof. Proof that you can do hard things in small pieces. Proof that you can build momentum without sacrificing your health or your family or your peace.
This is one of the reasons I teach the idea of moving in stages, and focusing on what makes sense for where you are right now. When you treat your releases like reps, you stop trying to leap to the end of the timeline. You start building the foundation and the promotion muscle in a way that actually supports the long game.
So if you have a single release coming up, I want you to take a deep breath and tell yourself the truth.
This is just another rep.
Make a plan. Try one new thing. Learn. Log it. Take what worked forward and leave behind what didn't.
Then do another rep.
There is no doubt you will get better each time, because you are practicing the exact skill that makes careers sustainable: showing up consistently, without attaching your worth to the outcome of one rep.
I’m over here cheering you on, and I’m also reminding you that you are allowed to build this slowly, wisely, and with joy.
Always in your corner,
<3 Bree
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