As musicians, in today’s commercially grueling and competitive world, we tend to lose perspective. We cease to see the larger picture and are always stuck in our petty issues. Day’s pass in self-doubt, and we are never satisfied.

Here are five things one should know to not lose perspective in order to be a satisfied musician.

Competition is for horses, not artists – Bela Bartok

Music started because it provided for the only way to connect to the Almighty. No one was concerned about how fast the other person could play or how high the other person could sing. Music was nothing but art, which provided happiness to drained souls. It unified everybody and spread love.

Today we need to retrospect and think why we started doing music in the first place. Music is a medium to spread love, not competition.

Never compare yourself

I cannot stress enough how important this is. Everyone’s story is different. People come from different backgrounds and situations. Respect each and every fellow musician. Moreover, do not degrade the importance of someone else life or your life by comparing yourself to them. There is never going to be one best guitarist, one best singer or one best musician in the world.

Be happy for other people’s success

A word in Sanskrit ‘ Vasudev Kutumbakam’ means ‘ the world is one big family’. Like we treat our brother’s success, the same way we should treat everybody’s success. I believe we all are here to learn and grow. We cannot keep on pulling each other down. As artists, we need to stay together and respect each other’s talent. Never be sad about other’s success. Their success always increases the chances of yours.

Be Grateful

A lot of times, we are so busy looking at other musician’s success that we lose sight of what we have. We do not realize that whatever we have, there is always someone in the world praying for it. We need to be grateful for the smallest of things from the strings on our guitar to the light in our room. Once we realize what we have, we can never be envious or jealous of others. We will only love them more.

Remember to be happy

Music is a gift that not everybody possesses. The fact that we can play a simple song and bring a smile to someone’s face is more powerful than we think. We need to embrace this fact and work towards changing other people’s lives. Everything will transform if our love for this art is seen in every note we play and there cannot be a better path to happiness.