Trying to break into a career as a performer or recording artist is bloody hard work. For every person who makes the seemingly-effortless rise out of obscurity, there are hundreds of thousands of people who battle for gigs and opportunities.

You might've met these battlers or are one yourself. Some of them have the attitude that the industry is against them or that their genius has been overlooked for 'sell-outs'.

Now, while there are some shady industry characters that can make life tough for you, you have to take responsibility for getting ahead. It's all up to you to make a difference to yourself.

But many people fail to grasp onto the idea that they can do this. Heck, they even don't realize that they are often their own worst enemy.

The first thing you have to do is consider if your attitude is preventing you from getting ahead. Over the years, I've identified a few different kinds of musical kamikazi.

1. Fear of failure: Quite simply, people bottle up and don't perform or record because they're scared of audience rejection. They can blow you away one on one, but have all sorts of excuses when it comes to the idea of taking the music public.

2. Fear of success: It's easy to get locked into a mindset where you enter a bit of a fantasy world about being a rock star. But then some people get their shot at the big time and they realize it's about hard work, contracts and a lifestyle change. Believe it or not, bands sometimes lose members when they get their first proper deal. For some, the reality is too much and not what they really expected.

3. The genius: The genius is possibly the worst person to be around. He or she is usually quite talented, but let's everyone else know about it by regularly criticising others. 'This band sucks', 'I'm a better player than him' and 'Their CD sucks. Our's is better.' are some things I've heard. The genius often suffers from fear of failure and rarely makes actions speak louder than words. Those that work hard and persevere will often overtake the genius.

4. The paranoids: Everyone's against us, man. If it isn't club owners ripping us off, it's the band that stole our ideas. All the labels want to do is crush the artists. Hey, who stole my stash? It was YOU, wasn't it?

5. The rebel: The rebels won't play by the rules, making it difficult to work with them. A few rebels end up doing well simply because pop music needs their fresh ideas and attitudes. But some rebels also blow their chances by being so blindly committed to false idols, such as never 'selling out' or living a rock and roll lifestyle. For every band like Fugazi, who make a living from a DIY approach, there are ten of thousands which go nowhere. I once knew a guy who wouldn't buy advertisements to publicize his gigs because he didn't want to deal with the Man, man!

6. The dreamer: Everything comes tomorrow for the dreamer.

7. The part-timer: The part-timer thinks he's fully committed to what he's doing, but really isn't. He sometimes takes a while to identify because, on one hand, he's pretty positive about things. But, on another, he doesn't do the things that need to be done to make a difference. He doesn't practice much. He never seems to write songs or have ideas. But he's such a good guy that it takes a while to work him out. He's related to the dreamer. He won't play music for ever. He'll move onto something else sooner or later. Possibly golf.

8. The mimic: This kind of person gets frustrated by going nowhere, without realizing that what he or she does is pretty much the same as everyone else. They often end up joining the paranoids.

9. The lost minstrel: Trying to get ahead in this game can be tough. It's vitally important to learn about the business and find out how things *really* get done. The minstrel wanders around without knowing about the existence of music associations, promoters and managers.

Now, these stereotypes are admittedly a bit tongue in cheek. But a lot of us exhibit them from time to time. It's easy to get into a rut or develop the wrong attitude.

If you think you're developing some bad habits, then take some time out to make a few realistic goals about what you want to achieve. Pick yourself up and make a difference to yourself. Your mental attitude to getting things done is vitally important.