Music and Sports have many things in common. I have always been fascinated by that. They both are about forging the will power, executing a plan no matter what, endurance, breaking through personal barriers, strength, experiencing severe disappointments, failure and little – or not so little – emotional catastrophes.
Boxing legend Muhammed Ali said: “Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them – a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill. But the will must be stronger than the skill.”
In other words: Tactics are great. Muscles and virtuosity do have their place, they are necessary. But at the end of the day, the guy with the head made of concrete always wins the race. So how the heck do we get the concrete in our head!?
When I think about it, this kind of question seems valuable for everybody and his mother. Not just athletes or high performance artists.
In life we all go through moments, where we want to quit, are disappointed beyond the moon, where we fail or where we fall.
This just happens, sooner or later in life. There is no protection against the nature of life. If you have one, you are hooked. No alternative.
Concrete Head Protocol #1:
Find out, what truly matters to you. The world is full of noise.
If we don’t know what matters to us, we are getting distracted before we even put one leg out of bed in the morning. Everything and everybody brings us off track – because there is no track.
To be on track you have to have one.
Build it. With only stuff that’s important to you. The rest can wait.
Concrete Head Protocol #2:
Don’t follow every invitation.
Sometimes we are invited to respond to some jerk. You can decline.
Sometimes we are invited to go in the wrong direction. Say, no thanks, I see where this is going.
It strengthens our will when we learn to develop some ethical backbone.
Concrete Head Protocol #3:
Stop whining. Emotions are great. We are like little machines that are producing feelings all the time. That’s what our bodies do. They create emotions.
The important part is to know that and to stop this machine when it starts hurting us. It does this everytime we go into complaining mode.
Let the stuff that happens to you make you strong. Because it will.
I hope this short list brings some grey concrete to your little grey cells.
And this helps you getting through a summer of silly confinements.
We are so incredibly fooled with selective news reporting.
(Which I stated more than a year ago right here in this column.)
All the best, much love,
Anselma
p.s. Do you know the Cantigas brasileiras? Here is a beautiful concerto recording featuring female composers and performers at the Conservatory of Aragon, Spain.
p.p.s. Summer is arriving, time for cool music! Play with a gorgeous pro the Tangowango Tango Duets. You are gonna love them!
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