I didn’t play many sports growing up, but I did dance. And one of the things you’d do after learning the choreography was “mark it” before going “full out.”
To “mark it” is to dance a piece of choreography “with less energy, usually for practicing musicality, timing, and other tools.” In other words, you hold a little back.
In contrast, going “full out” is putting your all into the performance. “Dancing with 100% of your energy and performance,” even if it’s for rehearsal and not in front of an audience.
One benefit to marking the steps is it allows you to focus on other aspects of the performance, like timing, stage location, levels, or music. Usually a choreographer will say, “Ok mark it at 70%,” or “Give me 50%” to indicate how much energy to expend. When it’s time to go all in she’ll say, “I wanna see you go full out.”
Going full out is where the magic happens. It’s tempting not to do it when you’re rehearsing. It’s easy to spot the steps, go half-in, mark the spots you’re supposed to stand, the notes you’re supposed to hit. Saving some for later. Saving the good stuff.
The problem is power begets power. And if you hold back you’re actually holding back the magic that creates more. There’s a fear we have that we’ll run out of steam. That we’ll have no good ideas left. That we’ll run out of stories, inspiration, motivation, and creativity.
The opposite is true. When you lean fully into the full performance, give everything you’ve got, leave no stones unturned - that’s when you make room for Big Magic. That’s when you make room for what’s next. That’s where you generate new ideas, new experiences, and the chemistry that creates connection between your art and the world.
When you mark the choreography in dance, instead of going full out, you miss things.
This week on The Road
In Monday’s Notes From The Road we talked about sharing our work and not hoarding the good stuff for when we think we’re ready 🚰
In Wednesday’s Dream Project Hotline discussed why we stop and start projects (and what to do about it) ☎️
And for Paid Substackers, The Merge theme this month is Great Expectations. Namely, adjusting our expectations. Not to be lower or higher, but to be helpful ⚠️
Over on Instagram, we’ve got our newest Roadies, Dillard, and sunflowers 🌻
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Yes, the way we do has it's effect: the more often we try to perform 100%, the more chances it becomes a second nature, a new character.