sethstanley

Searching for a movie to watch the other night, I came across Whiplash – the story of a wannabe drummer fighting to make it into a prestigious music school jazz band conducted by psychotic band leader JK Simmons.

Not normally my particular brand of cola – but I love JK Simmons, who won an Oscar for this, and I knew there was a lot of fuss about it when it was released in 2014.

I'm so pleased I put it on.

It plays out like an underdog sports movie, with Miles Teller as the young drummer, practicing and playing his way through the movie with bandaged, bleeding hands and Simmons, prowling the rehearsal room like a coach fuming with his team's display and lack of preparation.

I thought it was fantastic. But I didn't ask you here to read a review, I'm six years late to the party on that score. No, I wanted to explore a theme that runs through the movie, because it really resonated with me.

How far do you push yourself or someone else in the pursuit of excellence? How far is too far?

It takes a lot to be the best at what you do. Sacrifice, a seemingly unhealthy level of obsessive behaviour, rehearsal, refinement, laser focus. You got to pay the costs to be the boss.

It helps to have a mentor – someone who can objectively look at what you're doing and encourage you. Be honest with you when you're not hitting the mark and show you the way to become better.

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They need to know what buttons to press to elevate your performance – whether it's playing a sport, acting, playing an instrument, or writing, painting, illustration.

What are your buttons? Do you need a cuddle? An arm around your shoulder? A pat on the back and an encouraging word? Or are you driven by the idea you might fall below your or others' expectations? By fear of what might happen if you don't make it?

Not quite my tempo

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I don't know about you, but I'm one of those people that forgives a lot of ineptitude from others. I'm patient with people to the extreme on the assumption that generally they do their best, with the information and tools they have and the time available to them, regardless of the task. Most of the time, no one is trying to screw up.

But when it comes to myself, I'm a lot less forgiving. When I analyse my own performance, whether at work, learning a skill as a pastime or more generally, day to day, I'm perpetually dissatisfied with my output in my quest for perfection.

Are you rushing or are you dragging?

In Whiplash, Simmons asks Teller to count in 4's and slaps him hard across the face on every 4. Then asks him – was he rushing or was he dragging? He does this in order to get Teller to play exactly at the right tempo.

There's a fine line in life between rushing and dragging. The sweet spot of hitting right on the beat is hard to find – and therein lies the attainment of excellence.

Are you like me? Do you slap yourself across the face when you fall below your own high standards? Are you bleeding all over your metaphorical drumkit?

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Or are you a mentor? How are you adding value, knowledge and experience to someone else's life?

Are you elevating them by providing advice to help them tweak their performance? Or are you driving them on with fear? Fear of you? Fear of failure? Fear of not reaching the highest levels of achievement?

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In the subscriber section, I talk about how my own expectations of myself have changed this year – and I also indirectly talk about the outcome of Whiplash (without directly giving away the ending), so if you want to check out the film first and then come back, I'll wait.

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