Today's post has been chosen by Lauren Cupples. Like
many of the featured artists in this series, I met Lauren when she
took my Advanced Musical Theatre class at Walnut St. Theatre. She
also studies privately with me, when she's in town. See, for the
past two years, Lauren has been performing throughout the country.
Florida last fall, Arkansas this summer and many shows here in the
Philadelphia area. This
holiday season, she'll be performing Emma in Doctor
Doolittle at
the Media Theatre in Media, PA
.
Lauren's another one I admire. She's
smart, thoughtful and a hard worker. I'm always impressed with her
ability to find auditions and then to actually GO to the auditions.
We talk frequently about the why of life. Why we pursue these crazy
creative careers, why we tolerate the less-than-ideal working
conditions, why we are on this planet. I like this ongoing
conversation because I see that Lauren has a vision for life that
extends beyond the next gig.
Here's her website: http://www.laurencupples.com/. Lauren chose:
Persistent
Patience
Persist
– to continue steadfastly or firmly in some state, purpose, course
of action, or the like, especially in spite of opposition,
remonstrance, etc.
Patience
– an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance
when confronted with delay.
You
need both.
That
was helpful, wasn't it?
I
used to be the least persistent person on the planet, perhaps in the
universe. I wanted it and I wanted it NOW. Giving up was easy for
me. As soon as something became difficult, I'd give up. First
rejection from an audition, I'd become an emotional mess, assume I
had no talent and announce I was giving up. Boyfriend after
boyfriend into husband would be forced to tell me I was talented,
there must have been another reason, yadda yadda yadda.
I had a
similar relationship to patience. If I couldn't lose that
last five pounds, if I didn't get hired for that gig, I would become
impatient and frustrated. And then I'd give up. Well. These
attitudes will not work if you're living a Creatavita. Because
creativity is always challenging and always takes time. Always.
In
addition, neither persistence or patience are valued in our modern
society. Oh sure, you'll hear the touching news story about the
woman who endured for 25 years to get her college degree, but let's
be honest, we don't expect that attitude of ourselves. We all know
that we want it and we want it NOW. If we can't get it, we grab our
marbles and go home. Patience, as in waiting your turn when in
traffic, is considered to be a sign of weakness. Powerful people
don't need patience. They can have what they want when they want it.
Don't we all want that?
This
is false power. This does not lead to a Creatavita. This leads to
a heart attack.
I
touched on this subject in the previous post Carry On. If you
want to have a flourishing life and in particular, any type of
artistic career, you are going to have to cultivate persistence and
patience. You are going to have to develop the ability to get back
up, to let the catty comments slide right off your back, to ignore
all the seemingly positive things that happen to everyone else and
not you, to somehow find a way to keep going.
In
fact, the abilities to persist and to be patient have actually been
found to be better indicators of success than talent or genius.
Now
I have your attention, don't I?
Angela
Duckworth, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of
Pennsylvania, calls this quality “grit”. According to Dr.
Duckworth, here are the two key components to grit:
- Sustained passion
- Perseverance
Interesting,
huh? Darn close to my initial idea for this post.
Here's
the TED Talk where Dr. Duckworth talks about her research.
It
is almost 20 minutes long, but the time has come for you to get off
of Facebook today anyway. Close it up and watch this instead.
I
love two moments in particular. The first one happens around 2:40,
when Dr. Duckworth briefly discusses the 10-Year Rule, which is the
same idea as the 10,000-Hour Rule, made famous by Malcolm Gladwell in
his book, Outliers.
If you didn't know either of these rules, you do now. These rules tell us that to become a world-class performer in any field, you
MUST put in 10 years (or 10,000 hours) of “consistent, deliberate”
practice. By the way, we're not going to discuss which number is the better number. We're creative types, we're smart, we only need the general idea which is lots of excellent practice leads to mastery and expertise.
That information alone should inspire you to get to work.
Think about it. You now know that if you practice for a specific
amount of time with mindfulness and awareness, you will become an
expert. Will you have a great career? I can't promise that, no one
can, but at least you'll have mastered an creative form that is the
source of the greatest passion in your life.
I'll
discuss my second favorite moment from Dr. Duckworth's TED Talk in a
bit.
Before
we move on, here's a super quick grit test http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~duckwort/. Go ahead, take a minute and try it out. Interesting, huh?
As
you know, Creatavita is all
about finding solutions that everyone, even the bozo who drives you
nuts on the morning train, can incorporate into their lives. So, get ready. Here are some ways to cultivate persistence and patience in your
life:
ACTION
has always helped me. Aim to do one thing every day that leads
toward your big goal. Send one email, compose one measure, practice
one song, write one paragraph. When you go to bed, you'll be able to put your little head on your pillow, knowing you
are one step closer than you were when you woke up.
Dr.
Duckworth takes this one step further, saying we should work on our
weaknesses every day. That's right, at 16:10 in the TED Talk, she
actually suggests spending part of your day doing something that
makes you feel uncomfortable. Man, I have to meet this woman. She
is singing my song!
PRACTICE
patience. Try
meditation or yoga. Both are excellent ways to focus the mind and
body on the present moment. Being in the present often leads to a
greater mastery of patience.
HAVE
A PLAN. Oh no, not the plan again. Yes, that ridiculous plan
that I went on and on about in my last post will help you
cultivate both patience and persistence. You will recognize that you
are in this for the long haul and the only way to the end is via
short steps.
GET
SOME PERSPECTIVE. There are 7 billion people on this planet.
Most of them call the day good if they have food in their stomach and
a comfortable spot to call home. The vast majority of them don't
find your frustration with not getting your book published, selling
your cd or finding an agent all that compelling. This is not meant
to diminish your creative work in any way. This is to encourage you
to ask why. Why is this so important to you? What is this work
really saying, what does it really mean? Would you miss this
creative form if it was no longer in your life?
Finally,
if all else fails -
TAKE
A BREAK. Step away from the canvas, close the piano lid, shut
off the computer, put down the pen. Go for a walk, a run, a swim.
Head down to the coffee shop. Go to bed early. Talk to your
partner, spouse or kids. Time, even when you feel you don't have
any, is often exactly what is needed.
The campaign ends November 15. Please take a look at the cool perks we are offering!
To close, I will do something that makes me feel uncomfortable. I will ask you to consider making a donation to my 2Voices10Fingers project. Today is the first day of an online fundraising campaign to produce interactive workshops and a concert here in Philadelphia in January. Jiu Jian Kenn will be traveling here from Singapore to join me for these events. We will be grateful for any amount you can give. Really! Here's the link:
The campaign ends November 15. Please take a look at the cool perks we are offering!
And thank you.
Yes for once, Sister, you are having my full attention on "Persistant Patience" . I guess i could be one of the right guy to proves that persistant does gets you to where you really want to go. And if the result is not there yet , just enjoy to continue doing it and evening sharing your goals with your friends or pen down the stages towards your goals.
ReplyDeleteI am right here in US Phiadelphia Bryn Mawr for "2Voices10FIngers" THe Next Song - Phiadelphia not just with my own believes in "Persistant Patience" but with many other people that joined us along the magical journey. People that believes in my vision in bridging both countreis culture and music , like Singapore International Foundation that supported my travelling grant, donors that supported our funding campagin that believes how our passion and music could make a difference for the community, creative people that shares their talent for our concert being our guests, musicianss and production team , last but not least audiences that appreciate all these effort and make a date with us whether rains or snow .
So if you are half way through your journey or pondering if you should strive on with what you have been working on, trust US, believes in yourself and you will reach your rainbow after all the storm.
Jiu Jian Kenn ( just woke up from a night of freezing rain at 6am ) at bryn marw ave 6N.