Hunger

You cannot push anyone up the ladder unless he is willing to climb a little.

Andrew Carnegie, business magnate and philanthropist

The first value you must develop if you are going to work toward excellence is hunger. Hunger refers to wanting to achieve excellence. Hunger is an intrinsic quality, and is up to the individual to find for him or herself. If you are not hungry, if you are not passionate, if you do not want to excel and succeed, don't worry — you won't. But if you do, if you truly want to achieve something significant and meaningful, you can, but you have to be hungry.

Not only must you want excellence, you must be willing to work for it, and even more importantly, you must be eager to do whatever is necessary to accomplish your goal. Hunger helps push you through the tough times and inevitable adversity that will accompany your road to greatness. Hunger strengthens your perseverance, persistence, and sacrifice. It is simply essential for making things happen.

There are four characteristics of people who exhibit hunger: they are proactive, they begin with the end in mind, they are self-motivated, and they exhibit desire. Let's take a closer look at these characteristics as they relate to your hunger and success.

BE PROACTIVE

"Be Proactive" is the first habit Stephen Covey writes about in his bestseller, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. What does being proactive actually mean?

Covey says being proactive means taking responsibility for your life. It means taking action, showing initiative, making things happen, not blaming others, and not making excuses. Being proactive comes down to making a choice. According to Covey, "Your life doesn't just 'happen.' Whether you know it or not, it is carefully designed by you — or carelessly designed by you. It is, after all, your choice. ... Proactive people recognize that they are 'response-able.' They don't blame circumstances [and] conditions ... for their behavior." Hall of Fame football coach Vince Lombardi said, "It is time to stand up for the doer, the achiever, the one who sets out to do something and does it," and educator Marva Collins remarked, "Success doesn't come to you ... you go get it."

I remember my dad always telling me when I was looking for summer jobs, "Paul, they're not going to come to you and knock on the front door. You have to go out and apply." He was right — as usual! Be proactive, make things happen, and start taking responsibility for your life.

BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND

The second habit of highly effective people, according to Covey, is to "Begin with the End in Mind." Without question, this habit is one of the biggest differentiators between successful and unsuccessful people. To begin with the end in mind effectively, one must be proactive in establishing a game plan and work backwards, visualizing the end result and working toward excellence every single day.

For musicians, nothing is more important to achieving excellence than purposeful, deliberate, and consistent practice. Several years ago, one of my students asked me a question that I will never forget: "Dr. Buyer, how do I become a great player?" What a loaded question! After thinking about it for a few minutes, this is what I came up with: "Well, first of all, you have to have a great semester every semester. To have a great semester, you have to have a great lesson every week. And to have a great lesson every week, you have to have a great practice session every day." I felt like I nailed it, like Ponce de Leon discovering the Fountain of Youth. My student nodded in agreement. Learning was taking place. I then remembered a quote from author John C. Maxwell that reinforced that teachable moment: "The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda."

As Professor of Music and Director of Percussion at Clemson University, I have had many students over the years — some who reached their potential and some who unfortunately did not. Which path a student chose to follow always came down to their work ethic, self-discipline, commitment, and hunger, as well as their ability to be proactive and begin with the end in mind.

BECOME SELF-MOTIVATED

As an educator, I have always been fascinated with the subject of motivation. I love to hear great coaches, teachers, and leaders give speeches to motivate their people to perform at their best. I believe one of my responsibilities is to motivate my students and get them excited about music, percussion, and working toward excellence. I engage my students by inspiring them through my passion, believing in them, and challenging them to reach their potential. But to develop a hunger for excellence and achievement, they have to become self-motivated and not depend on others to motivate them.

The ability to motivate oneself is called intrinsic motivation. According to Wikipedia, "Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on any external pressure." In contrast, "Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the individual. Common extrinsic motivations are rewards like money and grades, coercion, and threat of punishment. Competition is in general extrinsic because it encourages the performer to win and beat others, not to enjoy the intrinsic rewards of the activity."

I first learned the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as a member of the Star of Indiana Drum and Bugle Corps. Because we played over thirty shows that summer, it was common to perform two nights in a row. I vividly remember one such occasion. Our first show was outstanding, but we finished second. Everyone was upset and depressed. The following night, we did not play our best, but we won the show. Everyone was happy, celebrating the victory. The response to these two shows had a profound impact on me. It bothered me that some of my peers preferred playing a subpar show and winning to playing an excellent show and losing. The competitive result took priority over the quality of our performance.

Drum corps taught me the values of competition and how to become self-motivated to achieve excellence. From that point forward, I would not allow judges or other people or things outside my control to motivate me. Instead, I would find the motivation within myself, setting my own bar, expectations, and standards for success.

Author Daniel Pink explores intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in his book Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us. Pink explains the difference: We have a biological drive, and we have a reward and punishment drive. But human beings also have a third drive. We do things because we enjoy doing them or because they are the right...