Keep Showing Up
The other day in the gym, my boyfriend Steve was working his chest on the bench press. Working out next to him was a group of 3 high school boys. As Steve got to his heavier sets and put three plates on the bar (315 lbs.), the boys gawked as he did 4 reps with apparent ease. One of them commented to Steve that he couldn’t believe how easy he made that weight look! He also shared that he was having a rough day in the gym himself, not moving his normal amounts of weight. (Steve had already heard his complaints about this.)
Steve’s advice for this boy were twofold. First: That’s how it goes….every day is not your strongest day. Second: Keep showing up!
Like getting stronger in the gym, any skill we want to improve on is built over time with consistency and patience. If you want to end up benching three plates you just keep showing up and working hard day after day. Steve told his young admirers that he had been lifting for over 20 years. It’s a marathon, not a race.
If you are working to improve on your instrument, or become a better drill writer, or improve your skill conducting your band, you need to just keep showing up. Keep doing the work and spending the time and you will improve. And keep asking questions, listening to advice, watching webinars and listening to podcasts, and learning from those at the top of your craft.
Our goal at Marching Arts Education is to share information that will help you continue to learn and improve. We recommend that you put a word connected with your specialty into the search bar at our website and watch all the content that comes up. Or put a name in the search bar of someone you would like to hear from. It’s quite likely that some great information will appear that can help you.
Keep showing up each day as you work on your craft, whether it’s lifting in the gym or plotting dots for marchers. We’re here to help!
Tim Hinton
November 2, 2022
