Recently I was working with a singer and explaining how a small change to how he approached a word or even a syllable of a word could make a greater difference to his overall sound and how he expressed that word. After my explanation he smiled at me and said two words. “Marginal gains!”
I had never thought about this phrase before and he explained to me that when the British Olympic cycling team were working to improve their performance they came to a conclusion that although they couldn’t reinvent the bicycle, they could make small adjustments to the tyres etc. that would result in going that little bit faster. Marginal gains!
Since then I have come to realise even more that this principle doesn’t just apply to singing, but to our physical, emotional and spiritual lives.
In the Book of James in the Bible we read, ‘The ships though they be so great, and are driven in fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm‘. As I have been developing my coaching over the last few months I have seen how a simple conversation or even question can lead to a small adjustment that has a greater influence on our performance or behaviour. Sometimes these adjustments are so small that we do not recognise them until months after we have made the change. I guess that it is possibly because we start working on these changes at a subconscious level.
I have recently noticed that my singing teaching and coaching have moved closer together. I have come to realise that my 35 years of singing experience combined with my coaching training can help those who may struggle with speaking in a public forum. Once again James, in the following verses in the Bible, tells us that ‘the tongue is a little member that boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth‘. This of course reminds us of what damage we can do with our tongue, but it also reinforces that great things can begin from a few words. The ‘fire’ that kindles from within us can be the beginnings of our deep desires and passions being brought to fruition. In short, It can be the beginning of great things.
Of course words are not enough, and the true and main principle of coaching is to take thoughts and words and to turn them into actions and our dreams into realities. Coaching can also help us to learn to recognise and challenge the voices of our inner selves that often hold us back.
Whatever challenges we may face, it is certain that we can all make small changes that can make our lives better and more abundant. As we embark on our individual journeys of discovery we can embrace these small changes, however marginal the gains may seem at the time.