No one is a star, 24 hours a day
At their peak, The Who used to wreak havoc whenever they toured. Keith Moon, their iconic and troubled drummer, had a penchant for destruction, leaving the band’s management with huge bill to pay. He regularly blew up toilets with dynamite, lit fires, trashed hotel rooms and destroyed television sets. The band also had a penchant for destroying their instruments after each show.
Of course, all of this hedonistic behaviour took its toll.
He died at the age of 32, overdosing on pills meant to deter him from his uncontrollable alcoholism.
This problem doesn’t afflict just entertainers. Some people feel this pressure to keep up an image 24x7, and this sometimes comes at a steep price.
The academic who is always expected to say something intelligent, even at a party.
The comedian who is always expected to say something funny, even at the doctor’s clinic.
The rock star who is always expected to behave crazy and wreck stuff, even when they’re at home.
A musician or a band performs for 2-3 hours a day.
Depending on the sport, a player has to be on top of their game for just a few hours to have a great game.
An entrepreneur has to make an impactful 45-minute presentation to seal a deal or get funding.
All of us have a finite amount of time in which we can do our best work, when we’re in the limelight, when we are asked to give a performance, a presentation.
No one is a star, 24 hours a day.
There is no need to be a star every moment of the day, no need to be in the limelight all the time, no need to call attention to yourself every second of the day.
You see these folks all around you — people who call attention to themselves out of boredom and insecurity, people running helter-skelter, pretending to be busy every second of the day and creating emergencies to feel important, all just to be in the boss’s line of sight and create a false sense of self-importance. People who needlessly fan the flames, spread gossip, begin an argument or a shouting match, all in a bid to stay relevant.
What a waste of energy. And time.
Sure, some of this passes off as entertainment but after some time, it really serves no purpose. Most of these people are great at gaming the system and that’s as far as they will go.
Why not take all those needless falsities and channel them into creating something magical?
If you actually look at how some of these rock stars live (especially the ones who have been in the game for a while and have outgrown the mythical rock star life) you will realize that their days are boringly normal.
But when they take the stage, they blow your mind away. They do this by preserving their energies for their performance.
If you always feel the need to be noticed or heard or looked towards, you’re just taking away more time from doing your best work.
P.S — As an aside, companies who add the prefix ‘rock star’ before the designation they are looking for (rock star ninja writer), kindly stop doing so. Frankly, if you’re looking for rock stars, you’re probably in the wrong business. Try moonlighting as a manager for a local rock band.
