Musicians Can Break Free of Plateaus!

Imagine what life would be like if you had always stayed in your comfort zone. You never would have taken your first steps, too afraid to fall; you never would have made a friend, too afraid of rejection; you certainly never would have become a musician. Ironically, it's the fear itself that delivers the result. If you never took your first steps, you would spend all your time on the ground anyways; and if you never sought out friends, you would live alone; if you had never pursued your talent as a musician, you might as well never have had any at all.

The Problem:

So many musicians forget, as they begin to feel more developed, that they need to continue to step out of their comfort zone every day. It's the musicians who get comfortable where they are that fall into the trap of mediocrity. They find themselves stuck on developmental "plateaus", achieving little gains if any despite their best efforts-- any musicians worst nightmare.

One of the worst things that can happen to you as a musician is becoming content. This may sound counter-intuitive, but in reality, if you want to become a great musician, and stay a great musician, you have to keep pushing forward, keep creating new boundaries.

When asked by Guy Oseary, "What is your greatest lesson learned?", Andre 3000 (from Outkast) replied:

"This comes from watching other people's careers. Don't ever do something so great for too long. If you do...when you do something else, people won't like you, because they love you for what you have done before. I think that would be torture, to have to do the same thing over and over again for a lifetime."

Personal Story:

For a while, my comfort zone was behind my guitar. I had gotten into the habit of playing the same licks over and again until my junior year of high school when, on a whim, I took my guitar teacher's recommendation to join the choir, in order to develop my ear. It was certainly scary stepping on the risers knowing absolutely nothing about singing (I didn't even know what a tenor was...and I am one), or anything about choir in general (I didn't know what solfege was either), and to be honest I wasn't very good. I spent about 18 months completely frustrated at slow progress, but now I have grown so much as a musician because of the choice I made to go through with something new and intimidating. And a couple of years later, when I made the decision to pursue music education further, I even ended up getting accepted to Berklee as a vocal performance major!

The Point:

My point is, there are so many opportunities you could be missing every moment because you just aren't looking for them. I probably would have been a fine guitarist had I never joined choir, but because I did, I can now pursue songwriting, and my ear has developed more than it ever would have otherwise. I still remember the first day I stood on the risers in the choir room-- I was so lost and confused, because it was a completely different experience than what I was used to. I had always been one of the better students when I was in band/jazz band, and now I was starting all over again. But starting at the bottom was really good for me, because it humbled me, and I needed that.

Finding what's right for you:

You will know something is right when it makes you a little bit scared. Your palms will get a little bit sweaty just thinking about it, and you might even think it's not really possible. Whenever I get that feeling, I know I have to force myself into doing whatever the task may be, and I always grow from it. It's not an easy thing to do, but just try it once and you will see what I mean.

"Stepping out of your comfort zone" can mean playing a show for a few friends, writing your first song, or something like experimenting with reggae music when you've played classical all your life-- it's all relative. It doesn't matter how small of a step you take, as long as you are pushing your limits and striving to reach your potential.

You might even decide that "stepping out of your comfort zone" might not even have anything to do with music at all for you. Great! I definitely recommend exploring other activities besides music as well, because they will help you grow as a person, which in turn will make you a better musician. One little act of "stepping out" I made myself do when I was in high school was to join the track team. "I've never done a school sport before," I thought, "I might as well try." I wish I could say I went on to become a track legend and set school records, but in actuality I really wasn't very good. But you know what? It was still a great experience, and I learned a lot about how to push myself.

Tim Ferris, author of "The 4-Hour Workweek" includes in his book what he calls "Comfort Challenges". These serve as great exercises for pushing your limits just a little bit each day. (To learn more about the book, click here.) This is a paraphrase of one of the challenges he suggests:

"Being sure to maintain eye contact, ask for the numbers of at least two attractive members of the opposite sex on each day. Remember that the goal is not to get numbers, but to get over the fear of asking, so the outcome is unimportant. If you're in a relationship, just toss the numbers if you get them."

It's a matter of becoming attuned to your fears, and to your desires, because these are two of the strongest motivators for anyone. If you can find a balance between them, you have found the perfect task to take on. For example, I had always wished I could sing, so I had a desire to succeed in choir. At the same time, I had never been a singer of any sort before, and had zero choir experience, so naturally it was scary for me. Most people get stuck at this point, having this constant battle between their desire and their fear, and the end result is, "I wish I could sing!" (or paint, run a marathon, get a girl's number, etc.) I have spent a lot of my life feeling this way, but I realize now that wishing is wasted energy. So start taking the steps (and they can be small ones) to breaking out of your comfort zone, and you will become both a better musician and a happier person.

The only reason to stay in your comfort zone:

There is only one reason to stay in your comfort zone, and that reason is fear. Make all the excuses you want, if you are unwilling to take on a new challenge, the reason is because you are scared. As a musician, there will be a lot of scary things you will have to deal with. For example, one of the biggest fears in our society is speaking in front of an audience, but every musician has to be able to get up in front of an audience night after night, and completely put him/herself on display for tens to thousands of people.

At the very least, acknowledge the fears you have, if you are not ready to beat them yet. Do your best to grow every day, in any way you can.

"If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original." -Sir Ken Robinson