Over the weekend I was celebrating my birthday in the limited way we can in these lockdown times in our bubble with my good friend and drummer Sam. Over a couple of drinks we reminisced over the the infinitesimally small chance that led to our friendship and adventures on the road in Past The Fall.
In many ways its not a remarkable encounter, just an ad online for a drummer and then the rest is history as they say.
But what are the chances? Perhaps even more mind-blowing is the realisation that that small act of putting an ad up in the deluge of ads online and both parties seeing it at the right time acting upon it, and connecting through it, like a drop ink dropped into water, blossoming into memories and connections that last a lifetime.
It got me thinking about the choices we make in life and just really how unexpected every new year is, despite the the fact that I always have been driven to pursue 1 or 2 things I’m really passionate about.
In fact it got me thinking about how my dogmatic approach to goals in the past has usually led to one thing- failure!
But wait? Surely I should insert some inspirational quotes here, you know the sort, something that looks good under a instagram picture of the unattainable, or would befit a good poster on an office wall. ‘1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration’ ‘if you build it they will come’ (OK maybe that’s field of dreams).
Well in my humble opinion, there’s 3 things that really make the difference and it’s not breaking yourself against the wall.
Turn up, take the risk and adapt.
What do I mean? Well in many ways Pareto’s principle is in play here where 20 percent of effort can lead to 80 percent of results. Sometimes in life we‘ve just gotta turn up everyday and just do what we can, take a leap of faith that falls outside our plan, and sometimes that leads to opportunity’s we’ve never planned for. If we take them, hey, sometimes they suck- but sometimes they fucking rock, and just like dropping that ink into the pool, fast forward a few years and you never know what you life might look like.
I used to be too strict in my mindset, this unattainable set of ideals that if I didn’t obtain I wouldn’t be satisfied, but that used to blindside me and shut down things I probably never even realised where there.
So apologies but its my turn to bust out the self help speak but they ring true for me.
Fail forward, fail often, enjoy the journey… and just keep showing up!