Excellence Is Not Linear, It’s Exponential… The Simple Math Behind Luck and Becoming a Virtuoso.
Back when I played more than 1400 bar gigs for $60-90/night, and later more than 1800 college shows, I refused to relegate myself to being background music.
Night after night, honing my skills, I made it a challenge to pull the audience into a larger, connected, concert experience.
One summer night at the Massanutten Resort in Virginia where I played through college, a kindly man named Mike Wulf, Director of all Recreation Services for the US Atlantic Fleet, happened in to my show, saw the audience reaction, and for the next 5-6 years I performed on Navy ships and bases up and down the east coast.
At that time I had a “friend” who, in a jealous way would say, “You’re just lucky.”
My response (and part of a previous Virtuoso Tip) was,
“Yeah, you’re right, I am lucky; but I give luck one hell of a chance to happen.”
When you go all out, time after time, every time, opportunity will find you. And when you pursue excellence the rewards get better and better.
There are two principles at play here.
First…
The more chances you give opportunity to find you, the more opportunity will find you.
You might say, “Well, duh,” but I hear people every day complain about their circumstances, blame others for their woes, yet spend their lives getting ready but never launching; talking about it but never risking.
To them I say, “Get in the game, show up every day, work, risk, chase excellence, make some mistakes, put it out there.
Like it or not that is the formula.
Second…
Excellence is not linear, it’s exponential.
When you show up every day always improving, always seeking excellence – always striving for “Virtuoso” – your rewards over time will be exponentially greater than your effort.
Pursuing excellence it’s like someone agreeing to pay you a penny a day and just double it every day for a month.
By the end of week one you’ll have… $1.27.
Ooh, exciting.
Week two… $163.84.
Yippee. (But hold on…)
Week three… $20,971.51.
Not bad for three weeks, right? (It gets better…)
Week four… $2,684,354.55.
And hopefully for you it’s a 31-day month because on Day 31 you will have…
$21,474,836.48
This is exactly why I implore my audiences to make the choice to Become A Virtuoso, to make excellence your daily pursuit.
This is also why I’m creating my new VIP (Virtuoso In Progress) Community Membership site, for people who’ve made this life decision and want the tools to act on it. (Projected launch in September).
The bottom line is, when you make and act on the choice to become a Virtuoso, good things happen, they just do.
Please share this!
Live Truly, Truly Live.
Rayburn
