How Bad Do You Want It?

In many ways, I’ve been working on the craft of conducting for 22 years. I started with basic lessons with Ron Shirey (the then choir director at TCU) during my undergrad and had a meandering path until I began studies in earnest with Miguel Harth-Bedoya. This isn’t about that though – it’s about the idea of wanting something so badly that you can’t pursue anything other than that thing.

More and more I see (or at least recognize it more) the instant gratification of society. Now, this isn’t a “get off my lawn” kind of post, but rather I want to pose the question of how bad do you want it? Technology has made things much easier to access and achieve. Research, learning, news, content, content, and more content. It’s easier and faster than ever to access things.

In my own journey to conducting, it was the same for me. I wanted to conduct more, bigger groups – “if I could just…” But I hadn’t put in the time yet. I hadn’t had enough failures yet. Enough successes. Enough experimenting. I hadn’t put in the work necessary to be deserving to achieve greater things.

When we look at Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Michael Jordan, Lionel Messi, Mr. Beast, and others, some common thoughts are “they just had it” or “they got lucky”. The overnight success. But we have to do a better job of acknowledging the hard work, blood, sweat, and tears that went into their craft. The sheer number of hours and deliberate practice of their skill that brought them their “overnight” success. Mr. Beast (a famous YouTuber for those who don’t know) posted videos for years (starting in 2012) before breaking out in 2017.

All of this to say: what does it take to be great? Not everyone will progress at the same rate. Some will have to invest more time than others. The work takes what it takes. I wanted to be a conductor when I started my undergrad back in 2002 and didn’t have a real orchestral conducting job until 2018.

So the question remains: how bad do you want it?