Revisiting the Mundanity of Excellence

Instagram served me a post of an emerging singer songwriter and it reminded me of a shocking warning I got at the start of my coaching career. Coach Pat Barter said, “If you want to do this job, know that you’re going to teach the air squat every day for the rest of your life.” 

At the time, that sounded horrifying. Hell, it is pretty Sisyphean, but he’s not wrong. 

When I started following the emerging singer, Stella Lefty. I enjoyed her catchy, country-equse songs just like the rest of her fans. But. since she’s early in her career she’s got two real hits and, while there’s more likely to come, it’s hard to not notice that she’s repeating herself… a lot. I’ve already seen an onslaught of her posts created at home or in the studio singing parts of these songs and when she travels to shows she’s on stage doing the same song that might be newish to fans, but it’s surely not new to her. 

This is the mundanity of excellence. 

We talk over and over again about the less-than-sexy reality of world-class performance. And, whether you’re singing the hits or teaching the air squat for the 6000th time, it’s likely your relationship to the repetitive, mundane parts of your work that will dictate your success. 

Keep singing.