Be a Champion!

The Voice – The Quest for the Nation's next top vocal talent?

Ok, granted, some people have more talent than others. However, if you observe life closely you'll find that they are not necessarily the ones who make it. Looks? No. Strength? No. Intelligence? No. What's the secret recipe to success? You will see, generally it's the ones who can say "YES" unconditionally, with no barriers, who keep at it, diligently, the grittier ones, who make it!

Angela Lee Duckworth: The key to success? Grit

They work hard, exercise, study, they endure failure and get up again, they ask for advice, they go get the things they need… "But how", I hear you ask "can I keep up that energy?" Do you feel tired at times? Do you procrastinate, find excuses? Do you keep blaming others? Well, you are wasting your time and energy because you're not gritty enough and you might be pursuing the wrong lane. The secret to the kind of energy it takes is motivation. Ask yourself, what is it that makes me really go?
It's true, to be a champion you have to work hard, you have to be diligent. You have to take voice lessons, you work on diction, breathing, projection, intonation, rhythmicality, musicality, expressions, agogics,  and so on. But it's more a marathon than to lift in the snatch.

So why do we want to "make it"? Why do we want to sing in front of the whole nation?
– The answer may lie deeper than one suspects.

We all have a deep desire from childhood on to want to be accepted for who we really are. However, we are afraid we would not be accepted the way we really are. So we don't show ourselves, but still have the desire to be seen as we are.
Who we really are has a lot to do with why we are here. What is our personal, maybe even secret or unconscious reason to be going on. This is our motivation, our motor, the reason we live… our purpose.
In that light it's understandable that we want to show at least the people we love who we are, why we're here. It is in a sense a question of life and death. We want to feel that energy that keeps us going and we need to know we are ok.
So, walking on stage is (maybe subconsciously) to give it a shot, to give it all we got, to jump our own fences, to conquer one's weaker self, to get the better of the fearful voice inside us, to take the plunge to get that approval, that applause, that we think we need to be free, to live on, to be someone. Or in other words to be able to say "YES" to our own true self. And you do it in front of the whole nation, so you can't escape yourself anymore, so that your out of the closet.
Trust me, from someone who's been there, you can say "YES" to your own true self TODAY, you are perfect just the way you really are. Say "YES" to yourself, even if you think it'll appear ridiculous to others. Go and show yourself to the world the way you are. The ones who don't like it will turn away and that's for the better. And the ones who like what they see are your friends, and its good they know who you are. Go and spend more time with them, because that's where you're at home, where you grow, where you can say "YES" to yourself, which is the true meaning of "love yourself". And that's how you learn to truly love others. They are perfect, just like you are. They are different and that's perfect.
So, you don't necessarily need an audience like in "The Voice". But keep up that singing. That's where YOU come out. Always remember, you have a VOICE!


"Io canto
le mani in tasca canto
la voce in festa canto
la banda in testa canto
corro nel vento
Canto
la vita intera canto
la primavera canto
la mia preghiera canto
per chi mi ascoltera`
voglio cantare
sempre cantare!"
 [Riccardo Cocciante, Margherita E Le Altre]



"This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man."
 [William Shakespeare, Hamlet Act I, Scene III Polonius to his Son]


"IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO HAVE A GOOD MIND.
 THE MAIN THING IS TO USE IT WELL."
 [Descartes, 1596-1650]