30-30

Last week, I played a chamber music cycle with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. It was a blast. We played Max Bruch and Michael Haydn, and everything went great…except for one thing.

We played two shows, and I arrived at each about 15 minutes before the scheduled start time. Although I was technically early, I could tell, based on the reactions of my musical colleagues, that this amount of early was considered late.

I had meant to arrive earlier, but during each 2-hour-plus commute, things came up that put me 10-15 minutes behind. It was traffic’s fault! It was my GPS! The line at Starbucks!! I would have been here on time, but, but, but… !

I had become that guy who plays well, but is always running late. And I never want to be that guy. I want to be that no-brainer hire that is first in people’s mind, no hesitation, because he’s awesome on ALL fronts (logistics included)!

So I’m instituting a new rule for myself: when I’m commuting, I will to leave early enough so that, if I’m delayed for 30 minutes along the way, I’ll still arrive 30 minutes early to the gig. For you math-y folks, that means add 1 hour to your Google Maps commute time.

That way, I don’t have to stress about traffic or taking a wrong turn. I take chance out of the equation. I can arrive nice and early to the venue and stretch my legs for a bit, warm up, nab a coffee, or do whatever floats my boat.

Most importantly, I show my colleagues (and myself) that I care, that I plan ahead, and that I’m someone that they can trust, both on the stage and off.