Talent, fear, work and mindset
When I was about 8 years old my biggest hero was Mariah Carey, and my favourite thing to do was sing.
It was 1993 and Music Box had just come out.
It was the first album I ever owned and I thought she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen or heard.
I wanted to be just like her.
Parallel to this, I started classical ballet - another thing of beauty that captured my heart and mind.
I trained as a dancer and I was good at it. My body enjoyed the training and I got better and better over time.
My singing however, didn’t progress without the same dedicated approach, despite entering my teenage years desperately wanting to be a pop star (like most young people).
I tried to approach it indirectly with no ‘success’.
I taught myself guitar and joined a band.
I performed at a couple of open mic nights.
I got a singing teacher.
But it was all in vein because I had massive blocks around singing and I didn’t have the tools I have now to overcome my mindset and beliefs so that I could do the work required to achieve what I wanted to,
Before you get good at anything, you have to be ok with being a bit shit for a while. You CANNOT let that mean anything about you.
And then you have to be ok with putting in the work.
Two things that I was not ok with because my mindset and beliefs around singing, talent and work would not allow it.
My core belief around singing was that if I was talented, I wouldn’t have to work hard, and if I had to work hard, it meant that I wasn’t talented. And if I wasn’t talented then it meant I couldn’t do it.
Now let’s be real.
Talent is mos def a thing.
But, it’s less of a thing than you think it is.
Because the difference between being good and being exceptional is actually massive, and the only thing that can bridge that gap, is work.
Talent is like a car. But hard work is the gas in the tank.
You can sit in a car. It can be pretty, warm and comfortable inside.
But it doesn’t matter how nice the car is to look at, it ain’t going nowhere without gas in the tank.
One more time for those in the back: hard work is the gas in the tank you need to go anywhere!
Bridging the gap between good and exceptional requires a level of work and dedication that you can’t fathom as a beginner.
It doesn’t mean you’re not talented.
It doesn’t mean ‘it’s not meant to be’.
It means that you are showing yourself, and whatever talent that you do have, the level of respect that it deserves.
Even prodigies have to practise 5 hours a day.
What have you convinced yourself you’re not talented enough at?
Have you honestly put in the work to develop your craft?
Some more reality checks if you need them:
Ed Sheeran playing one of his first songs (I think it was like 6 years between that recording and his first #1 single)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flkjMuaKYQU&ab_channel=TheJonathanRossShow
Roger Federer “Effortless is a myth”
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VF07GnQrZqM
Kobe Bryant talking about training
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/j2lcGA5X7xQ
These days, I’m good at a lot of things.
Photography, art, dance, writing, illustration the list goes on.
I became good at these things because:
1. I put in the work and 2. I didn’t care how crap I was at the start or let it mean anything about me or my future.