During a recent appearance on the “Lancaster Connects” show, Poison’s Bret Michaels talked about what are the things that inspire him more than four decades since Poison’s formation.
Here’s what Michaels said:
“Your brain, when you’re in a business like the entertainment business, it’s moving parts. So the first thing I start with, and I say this, is my passion. I have to want to do this, to be on a tour bus, to travel, to be away from your family, your kids, your friends, you have to have a passion that drives you, so you have to have that drive.
”That’s number one. But when I use the word ‘bet on yourself’, it is so important, over and over again, that I say what that means is you find everything that comes at you. You’re standing at the plate or out in the field… I’ll give you an example of a baseball game. You have to feel the ball if it’s hit as a line drive, a pop-up, a grounder, be able to adapt and adjust to everything.
”That doesn’t mean lose who you are. I wanna be careful… I don’t mean just jump at every music style. We didn’t do that. We stuck to our guns, and when things were going great, that’s awesome. And when they got tough, we were prepared.
He added:
“One of the lessons I learned is I refuse to carry bitterness with me. And I’m telling you, I have been kicked, pushed, picked back up, pushed back down again, and I just refuse to carry the bitterness with me.
”And that bitterness is like a jail cell. And let me tell you, you think you’re doing great, then something comes in that just rocks your world. And sometimes you get stabbed in the back from somebody you thought you trusted.
”But rather than carry that bitterness, honest to God, it’s not easy, but I just said, you know what? It’s a log on the fire. Fuel my fire. And I’m, like, ‘All right. Here we go. Game on.'”