In a world of dreamers, where everyone loves what they do, it is incredibly difficult to stay competitive. We are competing with people who have devoted their live to what they do. They have already given up everything, they already work for less then we do, they already work more hours then we do, and they have more experience. Is there any point in even competing with that? Will we ever be good enough to be respected and make a decent living?

The myth about the top 1%

When I first walked into a big recording session – when I saw my childhood heroes sitting behind the recording console, instructing musicians – I made a startling observation that change my life:

Nobody did anything that I couldn’t have done, and there was no magic tool that solved all their problems. They were just professionals working hard and trying their best.

I spent about a week in the studio, sitting right behind Hollywoods most sought-after film composer, trying to look as confident as I could. Occasionally, he would turn around and ask me “what do you think?”. Whenever musicians came in, he made it clear that THEY were the actual talented people in the room; he was just a creative guy messing around with ideas.

There are many interviews where Hans Zimmer describes his struggles writing film music. Every time he takes on a new project, he feels unqualified and panics; what if he can’t deliver good quality music?

 “You need a better composer”

Another story: Steven Spielberg was looking for someone to compose music for his drama Schindler’s List, and approached legendary composer John Williams. Despite being one of the most respected film composers of all time, he was hesitant taking on this project as he didn’t feel qualified enough. “You need a better composer,” was all he could say. “But they are all dead,” was Spielberg’s response. Of course Williams ended up scoring the movie and received an Academy Award for it.

The best and most memorable art in human history has been created by artists who were not sure if they even deserved to do what they did so well.

Now, if the very top of the field question themselves – if even they are uncertain about how good they are – if they don’t know; how will we ever know? How will we know when we are finally good enough to be really successful?

Here is what we can do

The lesson from all this is pretty simple; we will never know. The point of ‘arrival’ at success simply doesn’t exist. It will always be a struggle, it will never be easy; in our own view, we will never be good enough. There is no certificate that says “you are good, now go make millions”. If we are true artists, striving for perfection, we will never be satisfied with our work. The only way for us to actually become successful will be to learn how to deal with it.

If there is a line that we have to cross in order to become successful, it is the ability to let go of something that is not perfect to us. Let go and move on.

I don’t have the statistical evidence for this, nevertheless, I am convinced that the vast majority of existing art is unfinished in the eyes of the artists who worked on it. I am convinced Michelangelo would have tried to sculpt an even more perfect ‘David’, and Haydn would have composed even better string quartets, if they didn’t have to deliver and move on to their next work. Or maybe they would have never finished any of their work without the pressure of the Medici’s and the Esterházy’s.

It’s lonely at the top

Of course, there is a long way to go in order to be able to create something that is good enough for the world to notice. Even if we are not satisfied, it needs to be good enough for the rest of the world. The only way to achieve that is to constantly work at our craft, and develop our skills, to a point where we are the only ones who understand what we do.

The top is lonely; and the closer we get, the more we realize it. And that is the danger to it. The better we become, the less compliments we get. People simply expect us to be outstanding. The higher we climb the ladder of perfection, the more we will struggle to even justify to ourselves that what we are doing makes any sense. Most of the time it looks like it doesn’t; but that’s the beauty of it.