Hey guys. I thought for this blog I would talk about motivation and how to find it.
Motivation is really important for being able to excel in any field, including music. It takes a lot of motivation and dedication to practice or compose every day for hours when you could be doing other things. I've struggled with motivation on and off over the past few years that I have been seriously pursuing music and have thought a fair amount about how to find and maintain it. I've been able to find a few things that help me with this issue.
One thing is making it a point to place myself around other motivated, passionate students of music. This serves the dual purpose of giving me a sense of community and giving something to compare myself to. I'm fairly competitive and don't like to feel like someone is getting an edge on me in some way, so being around others who are working on their playing engages my sense of competition, which, in this case, seems like a positive thing.
Also helpful to me are quotes or stories about other people giving up short-term gratification to achieve mastery/greatness. The world of sports can be a great place for this kind of stuff. I'm a big basketball fan and recently became enthralled, as much of the sports world did, by Ray Allen's breaking of the all-time record for three-point shots made in the NBA, surpassing the great Reggie Miller. Before he reached this milestone, sport writer David Aldridge wrote an interesting article about Allen. One particular quote from the article struck me:
"You see so many things happen, so many temptations," Allen said. "I just always said to myself, I wanted to be great at what I was doing. For me, it's a testament to just saying, 'Well, I'll have fun later. Right now, I need to put my work in.' Get the work in at the early part of the day, so you can enjoy the latter half of the day -- whether it's the latter half of the latter quarter of the day, you get to enjoy that knowing you put your work in."
I love this quote because it highlights two major issues related to the mastery of a craft:
1) The reality of temptations. Every hour that you're practicing could be spent doing something that would be much more fun in the present. The motivation to practice despite this reality comes from knowing that you're work will pay off and that the end result is worth the sacrifice.
2) Mastering a craft is not just a hobby, it is a lifestyle. I love when Ray is talking about getting the work done early in the day, etc. He builds his schedule based on his practice routine! It is important to acknowledge that becoming a master of some craft is going to take A LOT of time and that your life is going to have to be different than that of other people because of it. Again, it's important to keep in mind that the end result is worth the sacrifice. If you doubt this, just listen to your favorite artist. For me, this always works. I just think the same thing I though when I first got serious about music: "I want to do that!"
I'll end the blog with some quotes, in no particular order, that have inspired me at various times, and which I hope will do the same for you. Thanks for reading and stay motivated!
"No one is original. Everyone is derivative."
-Sonny Rollins
"Education is hanging around until you've caught on."
-Robert Frost
"If you knew how much work went into it, you wouldn't call it genius."
-Michaelangelo
"It's more a testament to [my mentors], because I've learned everything from guys who came before me. There is nothing original about my game"
-Kobe Bryant, responding to a question about how it feels to have scored 24,000 points as a professional
"I hit big or I miss big."
-Babe Ruth
Motivation is really important for being able to excel in any field, including music. It takes a lot of motivation and dedication to practice or compose every day for hours when you could be doing other things. I've struggled with motivation on and off over the past few years that I have been seriously pursuing music and have thought a fair amount about how to find and maintain it. I've been able to find a few things that help me with this issue.
One thing is making it a point to place myself around other motivated, passionate students of music. This serves the dual purpose of giving me a sense of community and giving something to compare myself to. I'm fairly competitive and don't like to feel like someone is getting an edge on me in some way, so being around others who are working on their playing engages my sense of competition, which, in this case, seems like a positive thing.
Also helpful to me are quotes or stories about other people giving up short-term gratification to achieve mastery/greatness. The world of sports can be a great place for this kind of stuff. I'm a big basketball fan and recently became enthralled, as much of the sports world did, by Ray Allen's breaking of the all-time record for three-point shots made in the NBA, surpassing the great Reggie Miller. Before he reached this milestone, sport writer David Aldridge wrote an interesting article about Allen. One particular quote from the article struck me:
"You see so many things happen, so many temptations," Allen said. "I just always said to myself, I wanted to be great at what I was doing. For me, it's a testament to just saying, 'Well, I'll have fun later. Right now, I need to put my work in.' Get the work in at the early part of the day, so you can enjoy the latter half of the day -- whether it's the latter half of the latter quarter of the day, you get to enjoy that knowing you put your work in."
I love this quote because it highlights two major issues related to the mastery of a craft:
1) The reality of temptations. Every hour that you're practicing could be spent doing something that would be much more fun in the present. The motivation to practice despite this reality comes from knowing that you're work will pay off and that the end result is worth the sacrifice.
2) Mastering a craft is not just a hobby, it is a lifestyle. I love when Ray is talking about getting the work done early in the day, etc. He builds his schedule based on his practice routine! It is important to acknowledge that becoming a master of some craft is going to take A LOT of time and that your life is going to have to be different than that of other people because of it. Again, it's important to keep in mind that the end result is worth the sacrifice. If you doubt this, just listen to your favorite artist. For me, this always works. I just think the same thing I though when I first got serious about music: "I want to do that!"
I'll end the blog with some quotes, in no particular order, that have inspired me at various times, and which I hope will do the same for you. Thanks for reading and stay motivated!
"No one is original. Everyone is derivative."
-Sonny Rollins
"Education is hanging around until you've caught on."
-Robert Frost
"If you knew how much work went into it, you wouldn't call it genius."
-Michaelangelo
"It's more a testament to [my mentors], because I've learned everything from guys who came before me. There is nothing original about my game"
-Kobe Bryant, responding to a question about how it feels to have scored 24,000 points as a professional
"I hit big or I miss big."
-Babe Ruth
"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out."
Robert Collier
