I’m a cautious person, by nature. I don’t want to do anything where there’s a high risk of failure or embarrassment (although all too often, I perceive those two as the same thing). And this manifests itself as a whole lot of waiting and preparation in my life. I don’t want to do something if I don’t know that I can do it well. And you might be thinking that I’m leading up to how horrible that is as a life strategy, and you’d be right, sort of. But it’s a broader idea that I’d like to expand on.
Talent vs skill
When it comes down to it, how good you are at something is made up of two parts: talent and skill. Now talent is something you either have or you don’t, and it can comprise a lot of early competency at something. But over time, talent becomes less and less important. This is when your skill level starts to take over.
You see, we all start off in the same place–knowing nothing. And that goes for everything–including the things we’re talented at. And then, when we learn about a thing, we discover our talent for it, or maybe what we can consider our base competency. If you like something and you start off at it with a friend, it can be disheartening if they’re immediately a lot better at it than you. But fear not, because you can overtake them with hard work, hypothetically.
You see, over time, someone who hones the skill becomes a lot better than someone who’s just talented but puts no effort in. And this is important to remember for talented and non-talented people alike. We might be tempted to rest on our laurels or despair at our lack of early brilliance, but either way would be a mistake. Because without skill, you can’t master anything.
Preparation
So that’s a point for cautiousness, in my book. You push your limits continually, and overtime you’ll build skill. For me, it makes sense not to just fling a loaded brush of talent at the world and hope they eat it up. No, you want to hone your skills before you try to put yourself out there. Not just for fear of failure or embarrassment but also out of respect for your work and the world its being put into. I don’t know about you, but I think this world deserves more thoughtful content, with better quality. And if the only thing standing between us and it is a little more time and effort, then why wouldn’t we strive for that standard?
Don’t be brash. Prepare. Work on your craft. Improve, do your best, become a master. And then once you know that your work is the best you can do right now, release it into the world. More people will be appreciative of your gift this way and it will uniquely touch them in ways it may not have otherwise. But there is obviously a flip side to this as well.
When to just do it
When it comes down to it, there’s a tipping point. And it’s a subtle one at that. You’ve tried your best, you’ve improved, you keep improving. So at what point is it time to just jump in and do it?
It’s hard to figure out when to take that leap of faith for yourself. Whether it’s an audition, showing your art or investing in a business opportunity. Who can say when it’s enough and time to push yourself out of the preparation phase? (Well, only you, really.)
I hear people try to defend this point often by saying “there’s never going to be a perfect time” (for xyz). And while that may be true, it doesn’t follow that there’s no wrong time, either. What they usually mean by this is that as long as the essentials are in order, it’s time to go and take the leap. Because there are things you can only figure out through real life experiences. And that’s a good sentiment. But it begs the question, are the essentials in order?
My own example
I try not to put too many personal points on this website because it’s about you, not me. But I feel like I can make my point better by telling you about myself this time. I’ve been making music ever since I can remember, and writing songs since I was very young. And in the 2020 quarantine days, I had someone say to me “why don’t you put your songs out there for the world to see?”
The idea scared and excited me. For ages, my music had been just something for me. To fill my brain, calm myself down, keep me occupied. I sang them in my bedroom at 2AM when I was feeling lonely. I wrote them on the school bus home or out on a nature walk or when I had something to say but didn’t quite know how. And now, after all these years, somebody was like, “other people might like to hear your stuff. You could put them out on the internet.” I wanted to be the kind of person who could do that sort of thing, both emotionally and skill-wise. But there were a few problems.
A few roadblocks
For one, I’m incredibly shy. The idea of other people having access to my personal songs that soothed me when I needed it most seemed very exposing. I mean, what if people listened to them? What if they didn’t? I wasn’t sure which scared me more. But also, I didn’t know the first thing about the technical side of music. I didn’t really know how to read music and I hadn’t even heard of music production as a term. I knew I would have to get my songs into the computer, and then use the computer to share them with the world. And that was daunting.
The idea of getting my songs down so I could listen to them without having to play them was exciting enough for me to get started with learning. After all, I figured even if nobody else ever heard them, I would be able to listen to them and make a soundtrack of my life (of sorts). And so, I set to work.
I started learning about what I would need to be able to make my music sound like music (instead of random beeps coming out of a screen or keyboard) and began playing around on a program to do it. I worked for months, trying to put things together and make them sound like they did in my head, and once I did, it was time. Yes, I was terrified to put my songs out online. And I knew they weren’t professional level, but they were the best I could do. What if people made fun of me or hated my songs? But it was time.
How did I know?
There’s nothing in that story that explains how I knew it was time for me to put my songs out online, so let me explain it now.
I had worked hard to achieve a particular goal (learn how to put my songs onto the computer). This goal had many steps. (Get a program to do that, figure out how to put the different instrumentals in the background, learn how to record my singing, put it all together and make it cohesive.) I achieved every one of them to the point where I knew I wasn’t like, good yet. But I was really proud of my progress and the learning curve had begun to level off. The songs weren’t professional level skill, but they were as close as I was going to get anytime soon. After about 5 months of consistent learning and practice, I was maxed out for the near future. And the full realization of all the things that I had learned was to put my songs out there for other people to see.
Why did I feel that way? Well that’s the final process to learn in music production, is putting your music out there. But it also seemed to me like a disrespect to my songs if I was to put all of this work into them only to hide them from the world. They didn’t seem like me anymore, but their own little entity unto themselves. I wanted to do right by them. They had been only mine for so long, and it was time to release them. And so I did.
It wasn’t perfect
And no, dear reader. If you were wondering, my songs still aren’t perfect. It’s very clear as I listen to them that they are still made by an amateur singer and music producer. But I’m okay with that for now, because that’s what I am. I’m still learning–I’ll be the first to admit that. But I’m glad I did it. Even though I bristle when I hear a mistake I didn’t and still don’t know how to fix, it gives me something to work on. And that’s important. The time to release my music clearly hasn’t been perfect, but for me it was plenty right. And so that’s what I do now.
I’m really excited as I see my skill level grow, with editing, mixing and mastering. I think my songs are only getting better. And I’m so proud of myself that I had the gumption to put myself out there before I felt absolutely comfortable with it, because if I had waited I don’t think I ever would have felt comfortable.
Enough about me
So what about you? What are you waiting on right now? Is it sharing your art with the world? Or maybe you’re trying to take the next step in your relationship. Are you preparing for a debut as an actor or author or something?
Then sit down and ask yourself what the essentials are. Are they all there? And if so, what’s holding you back? Remember that nobody can tell you what the right time is to break through and live the life that you’re anticipating, but also that you could wait forever and there are some things that more time just won’t be able to give you. You need real experience for mastery. And it’s okay not to be there yet.
And just know that you dreaming and planning big things is pretty awesome. I’m proud of you for doing it. I wish you the best in all of your endeavors and I hope that you never stop dreaming and striving for growth. That’s what makes this world a better place. As always, thanks for reading. If you want to hear more about what I have to say about life, mental mastery and personal development, go ahead and subscribe to the blog to get email updates about new content. And if you wanted to check out my music after reading about my struggles behind it, you can find it on Youtube or SoundCloud.
