I don’t know if you are a fan of Kubrick’s movies or not. The first and only time I saw “Clockwork Orange” I couldn’t sleep for days. “Eyes Wide Shut” was also a movie that settled in my brain and took a few days to get out again.

Whatever you think of the movies, the man is a genius. He was apparently 100% committed to his vision. He took whatever time he needed to get it right. What inspired me was his quote “You either care of you don’t care.”

He is absolutely spot on. When you decide to do anything, you either care or you don’t care. If you choose to do it only at a 50% commitment then you really didn’t care about it. In music we all know great performers who give 100% on stage. They truly care about the outcome and message they are sending. More frequently though, you see musicians who give only 50% of their energy to the performance. No matter what the reason is for their lack of total commitment, it really does come down to Kubrick’s quote: “You either care of you don’t care.” If you care, then pay attention to every detail of what you care about.

A performance, no matter where or how important in the big scope of your career, can be given 100% of your attention. Every detail is something to care about. Details include: preparation for end result success, how you walk on stage, how you dress to the details, how you speak on stage if needed, your body language to the other performers and audience, how you psyche up, how you breathe, how you concentrate on each phrase, how attentive you are to the conductor, how you bow, how you walk off the stage.

When I was at the Banff Centre as a student, I was able to make a bit of money working as a stage assistant. The woman who was in charge of the stage truly cared. She informed me that there was a “magic zone” at the front of the stage that created the illusion of a different reality – a sacred space between the audience and the performers. No one walks into the magic zone or they break the spell of that illusion. I thought this was a wonderful concept. Every performance required that the stage be swept, the piano shined, the flow of the equipment choreographed for easy set up and removal. She really cared about each and every performance being excellent from her perspective – how the stage looked to the audience. This is where satisfaction comes in. If every day we do what we love with care, then we can end our day with 100% satisfaction. Things will go wrong or not be exactly as we wanted them to turn out but we can care 100% about our contribution and be satisfied that we did our best.

With goal setting, committing to the goal is easy at first. However, once you hit a few hurdles and bumps in the road it can get challenging to stay committed. Many, many people quit or start caring less and less about their goals. They do not commit long enough to see real results. A good question to ask yourself may be “Do I care or don’t I care”. Focusing on your results and the changes having this result will bring to your life may renew your “I care” feelings and then you can re-commit with 100%. You can also practice “caring” at 100% in your every day activities. There is a completely different feeling attached to doing something with care or doing it on autopilot or begrudgingly as a “have to do it”. Caring will get you past all of this negativity and you will enjoy every minute so much more.

Stolen With Permission from Joan’s Site – In Concert Coaching