Trying vs. Doing

As one of my students, (who hardly ever practices between lessons) was leaving the studio after a difficult session, I called out to her,

"If you would just practice 5 minutes a day the way we just did in here, you would improve so much more quickly, y'know?"

And her response was,

"Okay, I'll try",

and out she went. I thought about that response and decided that what she was really saying to me was,

"I probably won't practice because I don't have the time for it."

I cannot imagine anyone who could not find 5 minutes to practice an activity one is supposed to love and be passionate about.

I believe that "trying" is just an excuse for failure to do something. There really isn't anything called trying at all. Thomas Edison didn't "try" to make the light bulb light up 2003 times. He actually failed 2002 times, and persisted anyway to ultimate success! We humans cannot absorb the concept of failure, as it seems to reveal some sort of personal weakness or character flaw within us, so we call each instance of failure, an "attempt" at accomplishment, when in reality, when one tries to do something, he either does it, or doesn't do it.

Try sitting in a chair from a standing position. You find that you either will sit in the chair or you won't. Where was the "trying"?

If we can grasp this concept, then we can give ourselves permission to fail without the recriminations and negative judgments we put on ourselves, and simply move ahead beyond each failure. There is no success without failure, and in fact, failure can be an empowering tool to spirit us up the mountain we wish to climb.

One coach told me once that all excuses are merely justifications. You might think about that remark. I certainly did for years before it made sense to me. As I have matured both in years and mentally and emotionally, I see that it's the raw truth about human beings. We allow other people's judgments of us to dictate how we approach our own pursuits. We make excuses for ourselves by saying we "tried" and that keeps us from acknowledging we have failed. It makes it OKAY (because at least we tried, right?) and now we don't have to do anything else. Isn't it lovely? Isn't it nice? And we're nowhere! We haven't progressed one iota!

Let yourself fail! Acknowledge that you have! Let FAILURE be okay rather than TRYING, and with a new determination to succeed the next time.

This is powerful stuff, singers! This is why I am always telling you to get out of your head, and not just your "falsetto" voice head, but your self-image head where all the self-criticism is alive and well. Like the NIKE ad says, (though it has certainly become an overused cliche' today), "JUST DO IT!" Fail or not, if you just keep doing it, (the passion and bliss of your heart), you cannot help but succeed!

Personal integrity is making a commitment to your soul and following through. It feeds your brain and heart and soul every time you fulfill your commitment. And this translates to all the other aspects of your life, not just your singing! Can't we as artists lead the way to this kind of integrity? And wouldn't it change the way the human race behaves and possibly even make the world better for us and our kids after us?

I believe it would!