The secret to my success in a nutshell
By BUNDIT UNGRANGSEE
I call it "Super-Learning from the Masters".
If you can't find the right mentor or are unable to take lessons directly from teachers you admire, there is something you can do in the meantime. Research and follow the work of the best in your field. Study it on your own, and you'll be surprised how much you can learn through observation.
When I was just beginning my studies in conducting, I was still not able to learn directly from great teachers, that is, I wasn't close enough to any great conductors to have a mentor, and I wasn't advanced enough to have a great conducting teacher. So, I did the next best thing. I collected video tapes of every concert and every rehearsal of every great conductor I could find, and I watched those tapes over and over, poring over every detail, trying to learn how they communicated their ideas to the orchestra.
I still attend rehearsals of great conductors working with great orchestras whenever possible, so that I can continue to learn from the very best in my field.
If you only study from your current (local) teacher, you may not go very far. You may be at similar levels as your peers. But if you take extra time to observe and learn from the very, very best in the world, you will be adding to your store of knowledge and your goals will be that much closer to completion. You will gain enormous advantage over your peers.
There are many ways to be a super-learner. If you can't get the best teachers directly, try an indirect route. By observing (and mimicking) the best in your field you'll learn more and you'll learn faster. Then when you have mastered the basic skills you are seeking, you'll be better able to find your own voice and make your own unique contribution.
Ask yourself, "How can I be a 'super-learner' in my chosen field?" How can I learn from the very best in the world?
Learning from the "not-so-good" or the mediocre has some disadvantages. You sometimes learn bad habits. It is much more difficult to unlearn the wrong things than to learn the right things the first time. You slow down your learning process in the long run. Besides, usually the right things or right techniques are much easier to learn, because they are usually very natural and logical. In the music field, I have seen many students who are hindered by poor posture or wrong ways of holding the instruments or wrong techniques. They will never reach their full potential until they relearn
Another danger of a poor teacher is that she can instill wrong ways of thinking. This is even more difficult to change that the physical problems. If you have a wrong mental attitude about your field, you will never become great, because the fundamentals are wrong. It is like trying to build a big building on a weak foundation. You will not succeed.
Do what you love and the money will follow
When it comes time to choose a profession, listen to your heart, and find a career doing something that you love.
If on average you work eight hours a day, five days a week for 45 years, by the time you retire you will have spent 93,600 hours at work. Most people will spend more time at work then on any other single activity except sleep.
If you choose a profession that you dislike, you will find yourself suffering through eight hours of work and living for what little free time you have. However, if you choose a profession doing something that you love, you may not consider it work at all. People who love their jobs are far more likely to be successful than people who don't. They have motivation to become excellent at what they do. Choosing a job that you love allows for the best of you to shine through.
Look at the examples of people like Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Jackie Chan and Bill Gates. Their work is an expression of who they are, their talents and natural abilities combined with what they love. They are wildly successful in their fields, and there are millions more like them who are making a good living doing what they love.
I know for a fact that if I had followed the course that society expected me to take, the world would now have one more miserable and failed merchant instead of one more happy and successful conductor.
This is an excerpt from Bundit Ungrangsee's best-selling book 'Tong Pen Tee Nung Hai Dai' or 'Conduct Your Dreams'.
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