There
is no question that the Beatles were an overnight sensation in the US. Their
songs were first aired over the radio waves in late 1963 and by February of
1964, they were on the Ed Sullivan Show and were exposed to an estimated 73
million viewers. At the ages of 20-23 it could be assumed that they were born with
unique talents. This was not the case. Philip Norman, author of Shout,
the biography of the Beatles has clearly explained that they were not very good
when they started.
The
Beatles had a unique opportunity early on; they were offered a position playing
at a strip club in Hamburg Germany. They often played for eight hours in a row,
regularly playing seven nights a week. They made five separate trips to Hamburg
between 1960 and 1962. “By the time they had their first burst of success in
1964, they had performed live an estimated twelve hundred times… most bands don’t
play twelve hundred times in their careers.” (Gladwell,46-49)
Constantly
performing live, the band was forced to constantly practice, and not just any
practice but deliberate practice. Geoff Colvin describes deliberate practice as “An activity specifically designed
to improve performance… it can be repeated a lot… feedback on results is
continuously available… highly demanding mentally.” (If
you want to read more about deliberate practice I would recommend reading Talent is Overratted. It is a great read.)
While
not for the faint of heart, playing in front of drinking crowds will ensure you
have continuous feedback. This experience provided them a wonderful opportunity
to truly become skillful. The
Beatles are a great way to understand what it takes to become the
successful person you want to be.
Lets take a moment to look at our own experiences. Imagine back when you were in school, maybe you can remember seeing a fellow
student do something you thought was amazing? Could it be that they were able
to effortlessly: hit a homerun, play a musical instrument, or be able to sit
down and read a book cover to cover retaining most of the information. Were you
in awe at their seemingly effortless skill? Did you ever fantasize about having
that natural talent?
The
truth is that some people may be naturally talented. But, in comparison to the
vast majority of the population, “natural talent” is a very small portion of
what has made them so skillful. As mentioned previously, there was nothing that
set the Beatles a part from other bands prior to their intensive German
experience. We have often considered talent as the overwhelming deciding factor
of excellence. Mozart for example began composing symphonies at age 8 or 9.
That is amazing, but as scholars look back they realize those symphonies were
crap. He didn’t actually develop outstanding pieces until he was 23 or 24. This
was after having well over ten years of practice, and mentors to help him along
the way.
“…the
closer psychologists look at the careers of the gifted, the smaller the role of
innate talent seems to play and the bigger role preparation seems to play.” ~ Malcolm Gladwell
The
following is the belief that will help you start or continue to reach the
outcomes that you envision for your life. Success does not start with
an opportunity or a shortcut. Success starts with a decision to pursue a
direction. Those who wait for an opportunity are going to wait
forever. Those who are always on the lookout for a shortcut will never think to
make the self-sacrifice it takes to reach your desired results.
“Every
moment waited is a moment wasted, and each wasted moment degrades your clarity
of purpose.” ~ David
Deida
There
are no secret tricks to being successful, just like there are no secrets to
becoming a more positive person. It takes time and deliberate practice. I
regularly work with people in their thirties, forties and fifties, and each one
has expressed the same thoughts to me. They all wished they had started their
deliberate practice ten years or more ago. They regularly proclaim that if they
had, they would be experts in their fields today. They would be
living the life that they had envisioned for themselves! Today is the day that
you can begin to find or work towards your passion.
“You MUST love what you do to be successful,
especially if you are going to spend a lot of time doing it.” ~ Steve Jobs
Simon
Sinek, author of Start with Why,
sees success as waking up and looking forward to doing your chosen passion
every day. It is that drive and attitude that will propel you into a life that
you are truly satisfied with. That is the real success. Can you imagine your
world where you can’t wait to get to work? This is an absolute thing that you
can have. I have recently started taking Simon’s online course that is intended
to help you identify your Why. It is not only helping me do that, but it is
also helping me understand my purpose in life. I highly recommend you give it a
try. It is called Why University.
The question to ask
yourself is what is one step you can take today to start your
forward momentum? You don’t even need to know where you want to end up. Chances
are you already know what it is that you enjoy doing or learning about; take an
action in that direction. If you continue to focus on your own development, in
one year you will find yourself in a totally new place. Potentially, you will
have learned about a whole new set of possibilities. Lastly, I will recommend surrounding
yourself with people who are already in the direction you are looking to go. To
learn great ways to do this, I suggest joining Scott Dinsmore at LiveYourLegend, for his course on How to Connect
with Anyone.
I wish you the best of
luck in working towards your direction!
The above video features Giavanni Ruffin (running back for East Carolina). Speech by Eric Thomas (AKA The Hip Hop Preacher). This is sure to get your blood pumping!
No comments:
Post a Comment
This post has helped me realize that...