Mountains of Arizona
Sunny 68 Degrees
2:06 p.m.
Back in 7th grade, I got a perfect score in a piano competition at my school.
The entire evening, before playing, I sat there going over the piece in my head. I did it in the car on the way to the competition. I did it while the other musicians played. I did it right up until the minute I stepped on stage.
I would close my eyes and picture each note on the score. I went through several hours doing this.
My motivation was pretty much 100% fear.
I didn’t want to screw up. I just wanted to get through the piece.
I did get through it. Perfect 10. No mistakes.
Some would say that sacrifice is worth achieving the goal. No pain no gain!
That’s not a language I speak anymore. I think it’s the type of thing people say who would rather not say the truth.
In my case, the truth was this:
I did not enjoy performing. I enjoyed getting done. I enjoyed having played well. I enjoyed people saying I played well.
But the actual DOING of it in front of others? That never appealed to me AT ALL.
I know there are people who feel alive during the thrill of performing for others.
That’s not me. It’s never been me. It will never be me.
But you just do what you have to do, right?
Wrong.
When I’m pursuing goals that are TRULY me, there’s no “sacrifice” required. There’s actually rarely “pain” either. Those aren’t words I use to describe a journey towards something I TRULY want.
My lesson, then, was not to invest myself in things I really didn’t want to do.
You can apply this lesson to your life, to your friends, to family, to work, to business, to almost every part of you.
YOU are the one who must decide what is right for you and what is not.
There’s no bigger pain than living someone else’s life.