Believe You’ll Make It & You Will
- Brian Nabors
- Dec 9
- 14 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
How Belief Leads to Purpose
Why Not You?
Becoming
I’ve always been obsessed with determination.
Like many children, I was incredibly curious. I’d even say mischievous. I was definitely the kind of kid you had to watch 👀, because I would just GET INTO STUFF. I’ve heard stories from my parents talking about how, as a toddler, I figured out I could use the momentum from my body to escape my playpen by throwing myself against the wall—using my weight to topple the pen on its side. From a very early age, I was quite independent—climbing on counters to reach super-tall cabinets (’cause I wanted cookies, cereal, or Pop-Tarts), to a little later in life—dismantling hardware, reprogramming devices, figuring out software issues because I was too impatient to “wait on hold for the next representative.”
I was also quite analytical. I loved learning how things worked. When going after what I wanted, I was impulsive—but never reckless.
…Not much has changed. 😄
Brian—the young Southern dreamer from Birmingham, Alabama.
My sister and I—like so many others from our region—were born to a set of parents who had seen normalized racial hatred, various levels of segregation, and atrocities unimaginable to our young, untainted eyes. Naturally, among both of our parents was a mix of:
I want our kids to have EVERY opportunity to become exactly what they were meant to without fear.
We have to teach them to be careful of their surroundings at all times, growing up in a country that never really had a track record of treating people who look like us well.
My mother taught us to be mindful—watchful of other people’s actions, body language, etc.
My father instilled adventure, dreams, and resistance to doubt of ANY kind—of myself or from anyone else.
Growing Pains
Growing up, there were many external forces that would often make me doubt my expressive choices. Kindergarten through 12th grade was ROUGH. I had some phenomenal teachers along the way, though. No shade to Birmingham City Schools—it made me who I am today…and it’s doing much better now 😄. If I’m being honest, though, it was tough as a young Black kid whose interests greatly differed from most of the kids around me. My momma exposed me to EVERYTHING. She wanted to ENSURE I was cultured. We went everywhere: museums, stage plays, musicals, ice-skating shows—you name it! I did computer camp between 1st & 2nd grade and Karate Camp from age 7 to 11. It soon became clear that not every kid was as fortunate.
High school had to be the roughest. If you looked weak, you’d get punched in the back of your head. If you accidentally brushed up against another dude’s shoulder, they’d forcefully push you in the opposite direction, with no regard for how you feel—nothing but violence. It was at times violent emotionally, mentally, and of course physically. As a young Black male in that environment, you didn’t dare say you liked anime, Disney movies, show tunes, any genre of music other than hip-hop/trap, or any genre or song deemed too feminine—anything that strayed too far from Black culture. You’d get called a litany of names, many of which today would get you canceled.
Kids were ruthless. I have stories for years. In those formative days, I’d sometimes come in the house scarred by what someone said to me. It was usually the result of me expressing myself in the way that I felt safe to do at home, only to be TORN TO SHREDS by the kids at school. I know now that many of them didn’t have the best home life. This hindered their belief of what was possible and shaped their perspective of what Black folks should be doing with their lives—in addition to what we had to sound like, walk like, talk like, etc. It would be a while before I had the language and understanding to scream, “We are not a monolith!”
Whenever I grew sad and began to doubt myself, I can still hear my daddy saying clearly,
“Why not you? You’re MY SON. You can do WHATEVER you want!”
“Don’t let NOBODY tell you what you can’t do.”
He knew the sting of people denying him access to places and opportunities by virtue of our skin color and our family’s history in the deep South. In the grand scheme of things, it hadn’t been that long ago that our city was a haven of segregation and racist hate crimes. Of course, we millennials had never seen or felt anything like that—Birmingham has never looked or sounded that way to me.
My father did everything in his power for his children to never feel powerless. My father’s stark resistance to injustice fortified my courage to step into what I believed was possible.
The Road to Purpose
The fire that my father forged in me led me directly to purpose. My conviction to try everything eventually led me to writing music instead of just playing it. The rest is history. I became tenacious because I knew—regardless of my surroundings—that composition was my birthright.
I was incredibly fortunate to find my purpose early on because my father told me I could do ANYTHING—and I believed it.
A strong belief system can pave a road directly to purpose. By leaning into what’s possible, you increase your propensity to try things. Trying things leads to incredible discoveries about yourself. Those discoveries help you eliminate the things that you don’t associate with your highest self. By pursuing the things that are aligned with more of who you’re meant to be, you eventually run headfirst into purpose. Others might call it: your calling.
Purpose as Armor
Purpose, in and of itself, is unshakable. When everything you do is rooted in it, any opposing force is rendered powerless. The second I found this out, I was able to drown out the noise of any doubt or fear anyone could possibly project onto me. I realized that the divine path the Creator laid out for me had nothing to do with anyone else. Therefore, their doubt also had nothing to do with me. I’ve carried this principle everywhere I’ve gone—and I will carry it with me everywhere I go in the future.
I couldn’t put my finger on it when I was young, but I had great resilience in me and didn’t understand why it would rub people the wrong way. I’ve never been one to pick fights. Heck, I’ve never been one to intentionally sow a single seed of negativity or start trouble with anyone at all. I’ve only ever wanted peace for myself and others around me. Again, I realized early on that others weren’t as fortunate to come from homes that promoted such freedom. From childhood, I made it my mission to show others the same joy I felt because I knew deep down that everyone deserved it.
I found that negativity always found me. It was as if darkness was purposely seeking my light in order to snuff it out.
The brighter it got, the stronger my belief.
The stronger my belief, the more the opposing darkness grew.
Nevertheless, the liberation I felt when thinking about all the things that made my heart leap—my spirit sing—eradicated every sense of doubt coming from myself or anyone else. I carry this into every area of my life, from administrative tasks to the largest compositions.
Cutting Through the Noise
No one has the right to deter you from who you know you already are. Purpose found me early in life, so I understand I am an exception to the vast number of people who might still be searching for that thing that makes waking up each day feel like alignment. Purpose protected me and my dreams from people who had zero capacity to view the world through the same lens I did—people who could never imagine a certain life for me and who laughed at me for thinking it was possible.
To many folks, your dreams are delusional because they don't share the same vision you do. Many times, their inability to support and encourage someone else is entirely based on their sense of self. What we believe is truly possible is dependent upon how people in our lives (parents, mentors, others) help to shape our perspective—and we have the power to alter this—for the good and for the bad.
Miraculously, regardless of circumstance, there seems to be this small voice that calls us to the things we’re most inspired by: that voice is purpose. Whether you call it God or something else, it defies all logic and all reason. It’s truth and love in its highest form. It hands you the vision of your highest self and dares you to believe. There is peace there—warmth—a never-ending vision. Tap in. Therein lies every pathway to take you to your “why”—your “reason.”
Every day, I’m grateful for it. It makes negative or anxious voices nearly impossible to hear. While we're still fortifying our belief systems, many of these opposing voices seem to possess so much weight. Eventually, any power that these perspectives once held becomes nonexistent.
Once purpose finds you, nothing else matters. You lock in.
One important thing to note: Do what you have to do without sacrificing your integrity.
Self-love at every step is key. It will carry you through any chapter.
Take your time—
Contemplate—
Be gentle with yourself—
Plan lovingly and strategically in solitude— Keep your most precious dreams close—
Operate from a place of ease and you'll make sound decisions in your life and career. When you nurture calling, it nurtures you. It continually promotes an expansive outlook of what is possible when you put in the thoughtful, necessary energy to become.
Belief Is Transferable
Another beautiful thing about belief is that it’s transferable—it multiplies when someone sees possibility in you before you’re able to see it fully in yourself.
My wonderful piano teacher in undergrad, Kathryn Fouse, taught me something I never forgot. I remember getting into Prokofiev sonatas and some intense Bach going into my senior year. I recall telling her how challenging a lot of this music was. She still knew how excited I was to get my hands on it. She said to me with the straightest face ever, “Brian… NOTHING is hard.” I thought to myself, What?—still knowing full well that there was a profound lesson on the other end of this moment. Seeing the look on my face, she said again with quiet, deep conviction, “Nothing is hard. You only have to slow things down enough for YOU to absorb the material at your own pace.” I’m not sure she realized it, but that moment solidified something much deeper than learning challenging piano repertoire. In that one moment, I learned I could take on ANY challenge, break it down into small enough steps and achieve the desired outcome. Ultimately, this also strengthened my conviction that there was nothing I couldn’t do if I “put my mind to it.” That phrase has become cliché, but our greatest mentors teach us these truths in a profoundly applicable way—a way that feels possible—dare I say—easy. I never forgot that. Thank you, Dr. Fouse.
Another incredibly impactful moment for me happened while studying as a 2nd year Doctor of Musical Arts student in Composition at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. It was fall 2017 and I had just finished the 2nd movement of my dissertation, Invocation: Threnody for the Victims of Senseless Violence, Racism, Hatred & Bigotry from my Hammond Organ Concerto. The day I brought the finished movement in, my teacher Douglas Knehans and I were discussing the developmental aspects of the negro spirituals layered with other simultaneous developments in the orchestration when we began to venture into the artistic impact of the work as a whole. As with many of our lessons, they weren’t just music centered—they were artistry defining. This was something I deeply cherished about our lessons and carry that same spirit into every lesson I teach—not just, “How does this music function in this phrase—or throughout the entirety of the work?”—but also, “What are you saying with this work as it relates to who you’re becoming?”
These questions were right on time as I began contemplating the type of artist I wanted to be upon leaving the academic space. Having discussed much about the subject matter, we often had heartfelt conversations about how this piece would show up in the world and the beautiful impact it would have.
He said to me, “I think you should seek a commission.” He could see my future written all over me. I said, “Really?” He responded warmly, “Yes. Prepare a one-sheet with all of the information about the Hammond Concerto. Look up any important anniversaries and impactful dates. Contact every orchestra you can, medium-sized or big budget. You can even get civil rights organizations involved.” I began to get fired up! I couldn’t wait to send my stuff off! What mattered wasn’t who responded; it was that he believed the work belonged in the conversation. He was not only shaping my entrepreneurial spirit. His belief in me reframed the orchestral world for me—not as a locked fortress, but as something human and reachable. Right after that lesson, I immediately logged on Canva and created the one sheet with my headshot, complete with Hammond organ graphics and a full description of the piece and each of its movements. I emailed that one-sheet to every single orchestra’s artistic management that I could get a hold of. I even sent a few hardcopy materials off.
…and GUESS WHAT? About two days later, I received an email reply from the artistic planner of one of the “big five” major American Orchestras! The email wrote, “Thank you so much for your materials. This sounds like a very interesting project and we love to see the score and talk about programming once it’s completed.”
😱😭❤️. MAAANNN, you couldn’t tell me nothing that day! I went back to my teacher and told him the news. “___ Symphony Orchestra RESPONDED!😭.”
He, was like, “See, I told you. You've got something special. It's the real deal, man. We’ll see how it unfolds.”
It was validation.
I had actually created something that could make a splash in the field.
As a young composer you send stuff off and you’re 'kind of' trained become emotionally detached from the outcome and just see what happens. Sometimes though, there’s something that you really would love a positive outcome from because of the opportunity, relationship, etc. The rejection from those slightly sting, but we press on! The most important thing to always remember is that somebody’s “NO” is NOT connected to your value as an artist. My mother always told me, “If you get a no, that ain’t where you ‘sposed to be…” 😆
When I was younger I didn’t know this could be divine protection from the malice of others or even an outcome with an opportunity that would set me on a different path. Either way, I’m grateful.
Welp, I did eventually send off the completed score to ___ Symphony Orchestra, but never heard back. Stuff happens and that’s how it goes, but I'd never been more happy to just make contact. Since then, the concerto has been performed twice (once in each of its versions—with choir & without choir. Currently, here I am in the 25/26 season and I’m the soloist on it with both the Oakland Symphony and Minnesota Orchestra—a true blessing 6 years after its completion.
Timing is truly everything. It makes all of the hard work and long suffering worthwhile. Although becoming a season subscription performing artist was NOT my plan or COMFORT 😅, there is an excitement I feel in preparation of putting my full artistic ability on display as both composer and performer. I’ve been sitting behind the curtain for so long that I almost forgot what it feels like to hit the stage. This is going to be NUTS!!! 😭🫠 Y’all pray for me!
Luck Isn't Always the Story
When encountering someone who has reached a level of achievement they aspire to have themselves, people often talk about how “lucky” that person was.
Purpose clarified my path early, but belief is what sustained it—long before anyone else could recognize the work as anything other than “luck.” While I do believe in miracles and preparation meeting opportunity, I know this was not the case for me. When friends partied, I studied scores. When they were at the bar, I was at the library. Now DON'T GET ME WRONG. I'm no STIFF. 😄 I LOVE TO BE OUTSIDE—but when it comes to HANDLING BUSINESS, I'm QUICK to turn down a hang. I realized a long time ago, when I got stuff to take care of—important investments to make—none of these people are going to help me do it...and often times don't know how. 😄
No one was going to help me refine the artistic expressivity of my scores or edit so much as one note. If your so called "friends" pester you for taking time to invest in your future, they're probably not your friends—because people like that are often (knowingly) standing in the way of your progress. Get you a solid support system made up of healthy, like-minded individuals and do your best work. I can share from pure, honest lived experience that for me, it was NOT luck—it was unrelenting belief in myself that laid the foundation for a work ethic I could stand on, regardless of the outcome, rooted in integrity.
I’m deeply grateful that along the way, it has borne fruit.
Be of Good Courage
The nature of believing is internalizing your envisioned truth, untainted by fear or judgment. It’s almost as if it becomes this tangible thing—something you can see, hold and touch. Once you’ve made it to that level of faith in something, there’s no stopping you. You’ve been convinced to succeed. Not necessarily recklessly, but not completely without a touch of delusion. 😄 The delusion only seems like delusion at first because we are often fighting against social systems and people who don’t share our vision. After all, it’s your dream. It was not planted in them, so why should you be shaped by their negative outlook or opinions of what is possible for you? They don’t possess the ability to see it.
For all those who carry a dream, look at their current surroundings and just go—dude, there’s no way this is happening—what if I told you a single 180° shift in your mindset would eliminate all of this. I say this with deep conviction because there has never been a time in my life where I applied “the brighter side” and it failed me. For every reason or scenario you can think of something not being successful, you can take every one of those thoughts and envision the better outcome.
Think about it. Who’s stopping you? Who is saying that you can’t envision the life you want—that you deserve—that you were designed for. I’ll tell you who—and not to beat up on anyone 🥺—but…it’s you. Look, we’ve all been guilty of this at some point in our lives.
It usually goes like this:
We get incredibly inspired—
Someone comes along and ruins it.
Yes, things do sometimes take a while to happen, but you cannot under any circumstance let a lack of evidence that your dream is taking shape affect your outlook on its ability to manifest. I’ll also say, no one, and I mean no one has a right to take your joy away. Even if folks you thought supported you stop believing in you because you’ve aspired to be so many things and externally none have manifested. You’re not on their timeline. The act of you searching to find yourself is defiance of their limited reality. It’s often a reality that shrinks them because pursuing something bigger would seem unrealistic. It is rooted in fear.
Maya Angelou often talks about the importance of having courage. She speaks of courage as being one of the most important virtues, because without it, one cannot do anything else consistently.
I say to you today, be of good courage. You really can do this—let my story be a testimony of unwavering faith.
You CAN do it. You are not bringing someone else down by pursuing what was already destined for you to pursue. You are not stealing anyone else’s opportunity. Leave these subconscious thorns where they belong, stuck in the people whose insecurity speaks louder than their ability to try.
We are all carefully planted flowers that are waiting for our time to bloom. Your journey is your own. Compare yourself to no one. What is meant for you is for you. Once your purpose is set in motion, there is no one who can strip you of the ability to be you. That singular truth has given me great comfort and continues to enable me to walk through the world with an unwavering confidence in the gifts that have been granted to me. It is not to boost ego. It is not to be self-aggrandizing.
We all have been placed on this planet to inspire one another, to promote positive change, and to combat darkness in the various corners it lies. I’m no guru or life coach—just a dude who decided to take the plunge and make a splash. As far as we know, this is the only life we’ll ever live (reincarnation is really cool to think about, though! 🤓). Nevertheless, I want everything I leave here to carry the same power it did when I channeled it from the spirit realm—every note, every rhythm & every word.
Every time you make the decision to deny yourself the opportunity of stepping into your purpose, you deny every person an opportunity to be inspired by it. In the words of the great and wise Ms. Valerie Frizzle from the Magic School Bus, “Take chances, make mistakes!” Every stumble is a lesson and a correction to put you back on course. With focus and unwavering belief, the road—be it long or short—WILL lead to success.
