Well,
I was hoping to be writing this month's entry basking in the glory if
a fairytale victory for a much maligned England squad.. alas it was
not to be. But this latest “oh so near” did get me thinking about
motivation, and how it relates to our development as musicians.
Right
now, the England squad have two ways to view their situation. They
can either a) rue a potential victory lost, one that could have
propelled them to being only the second England team in history to
reach the world cup finals.. what if they'd stayed more on the
offensive after the first goal, maybe been able to score a second or
at least keep the Croatians too busy defending to equalise? Or b)
reflect on the fact that a squad nobody expected much of, which had
no “celebrities” of the likes of Beckham and Rooney, was able to
pull off their best result in 28 years – longer than most of them
have been alive.
How
does this relate to us jobbing musicians? Well, a few years ago, I
was having a conversation with a drummer friend of mine who was at
least a sheet and a half to the wind and bemoaning his lack of
commercial success.
“I've
been doing this for twenty years and where's it got me?”
Now,
this seemed to me to be missing the point somewhat.
“Don't
you enjoy it any more?” I asked.
“Yeah,
'course I do, I love it.” he answered.
“So
– isn't that the point?”
He
shut up after that, I'm pleased to say.
So
what connects these two situations? Well, neither the England team or
my drummer mate had achieved everything they wanted – winning the
World Cup/ fame, fortune, hot and cold running groupies – but both
have still managed to accomplish something impressive, 4th
place in the World Cup and a pastime that has given twenty plus years
of fulfilment, led to friendships and adventures with people you'd
never otherwise have met, not to mention the simple satisfaction of
getting good at something (don't tell him, but he is a
spectacularly good drummer).
So
next time your motivation drops and you wonder why you're bothering –
remember, you're not playing music for fame, fortune and glory (and
if you are, you're a moron) – you're doing it for yourself.
We do what we do while other people sit in front of the TV.
Think
about it this way – if you spend an hour practicing and you're
0.001% better at the end of that hour, that's still an improvement.
If you spend an hour watching The Kardashians – well, you've spent
an hour watching the Kardashians. Compare and contrast.
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