You need to slow things down to become more successful
What a street musician can teach you about life and business
We so hurry to do our work, to achieve our goals, that we sometimes forget to admire the beauty around us. In 2012, Joshua Bell did an experiment in Washington DC. The next day after a concert where the cheapest ticket was $100 he agreed to take his 3.5 million dollars violin and go to the subway station and do a performance free for 45 minutes. From 1000 people that passed by him, only 7 people stopped to listen to him and only one person recognized him. This is a rate of 0.7%. The rest of the people never mind him playing in the tube station.
Why am I telling you about the Joshua Bell experiment? Today as I was doing some work in the town, I saw an old person singing a violin. This person was more successful than Joshua with many people giving him money and taking a moment to enjoy his music. I uploaded a short 1 minute Youtube clip in order for you to see how passionate this guy was about his work. Despite the ice falling down from a tree in the back, he was doing his best to perform and not get distracted.
Now, what can you learn from Joshua Bell or any other street artist?
1. Slow things down. I know you are busy. I know you are working on getting your business to the next level, but sometimes when you take the time even to stop for a minute and admire a flower or as I did today listen to 2–3 tracks from a violin street artist, you recharge your batteries and are more willing to go fight for your dreams and achieve your goals. Also, if you have more than 5–7 really important goals on your list each day, you need to start trimming that list. Delegate some of the work or simply start saying “No” more often.
If you want to become more productive go read my article on the simplest question you could use to cut down your to-do list and achieve more:
2. Put passion in everything you do… Both Joshua and the violinist I met today put passion in their performance. They love to sing the violin. They don’t really care if someone else listens to them or not. When you have that attitude you are going to attract people that resonate with you. You are going to never give up no matter how hard things become. This is not something that you do because you have to, this is something you do because you enjoy it with all your being. Learn how to enjoy the process and not be only focused on success.
Success is like the horizon line… No matter how fast you go, you can never achieve it. Only look back and see how far you’ve come…
3. Be interested only in doing your best… When Joshua performed at the tube station there were 993 people that paid no attention to him. The artist I meet today was more successful at converting street walkers into listeners, but still had a lot of people that just walked by him without noticing. When you become an entrepreneur or a small business owner there are going to be a lot of people that just pass by you without noticing what you do. Is your job only to find those who would love to work with you and not focus too much on people that are not interesting in your products or services.
4. Positioning is very important… When Joshua played his violin inside the tube station people saw him as a broke street musician who is performing to have something to eat. A night before when he performed in a large auditorium he had people pay $100 for a ticket. Positioning is very critical in business. When you go only after bargain hunters buyers you are going to have a lot of problems. When you focus on the quality and attract fewer premium clients you are going to discover that you probably make more money and have fewer problems because when people pay, they pay attention.
I’ve been playing music for over 20 years now. I started playing when I was 14 years old. To everyone who has said I was an overnight success… where have you been the last 20 years? — Randy Houser
5. Where are people more willing to interact with you? There is a huge difference between the artist I saw today and Joshua Bell. Joshua did his performance in the tube station where people are always in a hurry to catch the next train. The artist I saw today was playing outside the station where people are not so much pressured to catch a train. He also created a better offer. With all the ice melting in the background and the cold weather outside he was able to strike more sympathy in the heard of the wakers. How can you use this in your business? Simply redo your about page on your website or your company story on your Facebook page. Tell people how you started, become personal, talk about some of the challenges you had and be their friend. People love to buy from small businesses and support the local community.
👉 Now I want to be more personal with you… Could you please help me by tapping or clicking on “👏” and maybe sharing this with your friends on Twitter or Facebook. This is going to help me inspire more people to never give up and continue with their business no matter the roadblocks they encounter on the road!
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