You are a tomato plant!
When we first moved here to the San Gabriel Valley, an elderly gentleman came up to me and asked if I was interested in being taught how to plant tomatoes in this area. My answer was of course!
He asked, "What are you doing tomorrow morning at 5:30?"
And I responded, "I guess I'm meeting with you to learn how to plant tomatoes in this area."
This is what he taught me:
1) Dig a hole in the ground the size of a 5 gallon bucket
2) Fill that hole with potting soil
3) Build a 6 inch berm around the edge of the hole to retain water
4) Take 12 inch tomato plants and plant them deep so that there's only about an inch of the tomato plant above ground
5) Only water and fertilize the tomatoes once per week
This last step nearly killed me. I am a nurturing person by nature so I had to fight fiercely to resist the urge to water them every day.However, I did as I was directed. Still, over the course of the first week, the tiny tomato plants showed very little if any change. They didn't get brown, but they didn't grow any either.
After about three weeks, I saw some growth...well, a tiny bit.
Then, all of a sudden at seven weeks the tomato plants became gigantic! Each tomato plant was over 6 feet tall and they dumped buckets of tomatoes throughout the entire growing season.
How did this happen?
Watering the plants regularly on a weekly basis during the first several weeks allowed them to sink their roots deeply and completely engulf the potting soil. Only then were they able to shoot up to their tall height.
Now, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what the metaphor for Viola Players is - but here it is anyway:
Growth comes from a consistent focus on fundamentals.
And sometimes that growth is not immediately visible.
But though results may not be seen right away, keep fighting for marginal gains.
As the root structure expands to great depths in the beginning (mastery of fundamentals), the progress and results will grow to great heights (acing those auditions). We just have to be patient and consistently sustain the effort.
Need help with what to focus on for your fundamentals? Let's chat!
P.S. I promise you, even when it feels like NOTHING is happening, those daily reps are helping your skills grow to great heights!