“Everyone who got where they are; started where they were.”
-- Gary Pritchard, entrepreneur and coach
In one of my sport psychology classes last semester, I started by asking my students, “How many of you can sing?” Sensing their professor’s hidden agenda, my students nervously looked around the room and only a few hands were raised after some hesitation.
Then I said, “Wrong! All of you can sing. I didn’t ask if you can sing well. I just asked if you can sing. Of course you can!”
“Now that we know that you CAN sing,” I continued, “who wants to come up to the front of the class and sing right now?” I told them they could sing “Happy Birthday,” “Amazing Grace,” or whatever they wanted.
One young woman said that she CAN sing but she didn’t WANT to.
“EXACTLY!” I said. “That’s the whole point of this demonstration. There’s a big difference between who CAN sing and who WILL sing.”
Then I pointed to another young woman and asked if she would come up and sing for the class.
She nodded, confidently walked to the front of the room, and belted out “Somewhere over the Rainbow” as if she were a professional. When she finished, she received a spirited round of applause.
I then exposed the scam. Nikki Cappiello, the singer, is a pro. She’s been singing ever since she was a young child and now she’s the lead singer for “Plan B.” She’s a Montclair State student, but not a member of my class -- I recruited her that day so that we could pull off our charade.
My next question to the class was, “How many of you CAN sing as well as Nikki?”
No hands went up. Then I went into “motivational-speaker mode” and said, “I’m certain that at least five or six of you CAN sing that well -- maybe even better -- but you WON’T.”
There are thousands of people who have big-time ability, but they are frightened away by the big stages and the bright lights.
Who’s your favorite singer? No matter how rich and famous that person is right now, at one certain point, he or she had to cross that frightening bridge from “I CAN” to “I WILL.”
Each famous performer had to stand up and take that first step in front of an audience -- maybe at a recital, an audition, a small club, or even in a college classroom.
Enough about me and my class ... enough about Nikki and singing ... let’s talk about YOU.
You also will have to cross that frightening bridge from I CAN to I WILL. You also will have to take that first step. It might be when you take that first step in front of an audience to sing or dance or act. It might be when you take that first step in front of a class to teach. It might be when you take that first step in front of an employer to interview.
Remember: Feel the fear and do it anyway. No pain -- no gain. No risk -- no reward. No guts -- no glory. YOU CAN and YOU WILL!
Don’t die with your songs unsung.
ONE LAST THING . . .
I want to take you out to lunch. Call my Success Hotline today at (973) 743-4690 to hear more.
