This blew me away!

I recently went to a show at Bass Concert hall on the UT Campus and it was this guy.  A solo pianist.  No band or anything, just him.

Now, I did play for a few years when I was a child and grew up on classical music (bc that’s what my parents listened to).  But I’ve never heard a solo pianist.  The only reason I even bought these tickets is because I thought it sounded weird to just listen to one guy play the piano and I wanted to see what it would be like.

For the first half of the show, I thought “this guy is really good”, but my mind started to drift to questions like “why is one world class pianist considered different from another” or “wouldn’t they all be really good at playing, and could you even tell the difference”, and “is everyone just here bc they made their kids play the piano and this is part of their education?”.

Then the second half started, and omg, it’s like he turned on the afterburners.  I’ve never seen hands move like that.  It was like he had 80 fingers playing all at the same time, just filling this concert hall with an ocean of sound.  I felt like the guy in the old Maxell commercial.

That’s when I realized what it means to be world class.

I played piano for 10 years, and I thought I was good.  I won competitions.  I could sight read like a beast.  My mom said “play with feeling” so I knew to sway all around like those inflatable tube guys outside tire shops.  But after hearing this guy, I realized that no, I was not good.  I don’t think I ever hit novice level.

Apologies for the long prelude, but here finally, is my point.  I had no idea what piano skill actually was, bc I had never experienced it.  I’d only seen piano people as part of an orchestra, or the other kids that were around my level.  I don’t have a grand imagination. I only know what I know, and I have no idea what I don’t know.  What I wish is that when I was young I got to see someone like this, to know what was possible.

I love real estate.  I love helping people buy and sell real estate.  I love personally buying and selling real estate.  So I’m always working to be around people who are really really good at real estate.  People who are 10x me, 100x me, 1000x me.  It helps me see what’s possible, and I’ve found that a lot of time, these people are very generous with their learnings as well.

I’m curious - what do you want to be really really good at?  And what do you to help yourself get better at it?

PS.  The pianists name is Lang Lang.  If you ever get a chance to see him in person, even if you aren't a piano or classical person, do it!