Obvious to you, Amazing to others

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post, but I was looking for something worthwhile to share.  I have been a fan of Derek Sivers for a while now.  Derek is an entrepreneur who in 1998 created CD Baby, the worlds largest Indie Music Store.  Derek is a frequent speaker at the TED conference, and is one HECK of an incredible speaker.

Enjoy his words of wisdom:

Any creator of anything knows this feeling:

You experience someone else's innovative work. It's beautiful, brilliant, breath-taking. You're stunned.

Their ideas are unexpected and surprising, but perfect.

You think, “I never would have thought of that. How do they even come up with that? It's genius!”  Afterwards, you think, “My ideas are so obvious. I'll never be as inventive as that.”  I get this feeling often. Amazing books, music, movies, or even amazing conversations. I'm in awe at how the creator thinks like that. I'm humbled.  But I continue to do my work. I tell my little tales. I share my point of view. Nothing spectacular. Just my ordinary thoughts.

One day someone emailed me and said, “I never would have thought of that. How did you even come up with that? It's genius!”  Of course I disagreed, and explained why it was nothing special.  But afterwards, I realized something surprisingly profound:  Everybody's ideas seem obvious to them.

I'll bet even John Coltrane or Richard Feynman felt that everything they were playing or saying was pretty obvious.

So maybe what's obvious to me is amazing to someone else?

Hit songwriters, in interviews, often admit that their most successful hit song was one they thought was just stupid, even not worth recording.

We're clearly a bad judge of our own creations. We should just put it out and let the world decide.

Are you holding back something that seems too obvious to share?

-Derek Sivers

http://sivers.org/

I hope this has inspired you to give yourself permission to look at your ideas, and know they're great.

-Bill

Competition and being Competent

My father instilled in me that competition is for the competent.  It brings out the best, and it gives you a goal to work towards.  Sure competition sometimes causes heartaches, and sure, sometimes competitions cause you to hold grudges against people who beat you.  I know someone who still holds a grudge after he lost a competition 30+ years ago by a tenth of a point.  But none the less, competition forces you to want to do your best.  Is there anything wrong with wanting the best?  No.  The problem arises when you enter into the competition for the wrong reason.  You should never enter into a competition to win.  Entering a competition with the expectation that you WILL win only leads to the above mentioned heartaches and grudges.

Entering competitions have been some of the greatest experiences and hardest heartbreaks of my life.  I enter competitions because I get a rush out of competing.  The risk vs. reward is practically zilch:  I have worked hard at something I enjoy, thusly I'm better at it regardless of winning or losing.  For me, preparing for the competition makes me better.  The competition is then the icing on the cake.  I have won already, just by doing.  Make sense?  No?  Ok... I'll give you a quick scenario.

In 2009, I entered into the World Magic Seminar Teen Stage competition.  I wound up winning Second Place, behind the extremely talented Hiroki Hara.  Second place isn't a win, right?  Wrong.  In the process of preparing for the competition, I developed the CD and iPod Manipulation act that I still perform regularly, most recently at the Magic Castle in Hollywood California.  I was given tips from professional magicians from around the world at the WMS after my performances, and thanks to their tips, my act has gotten better by miles.  I've been invited to perform at Magic Conventions, and at well respected magic venues throughout the country.  Then, to top it all off, the director and producer of Make Believe liked my act and my story enough to want it featured in their award-winning documentary.  If you've made it this far, read back... Does second place really sound so bad?  No.  I won by doing what I love.

Competition truly does bring out the competent, but it also makes you be the best you that you can be.  One more thought my dad shared with me:  "Do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life."

Thanks Dad.  Love ya!