Three Unexpected Life Lessons Learned at a Taylor Swift Concert
After hearing incredible reviews of Taylor Swift’ Eras Tour, I was fortunate enough to see it in Los Angeles earlier this month. Not being a super fan — or “Swiftie” — before the concert, I wasn’t expecting to have a profound experience, but what I witnessed was truly incredible. Taylor is an artist, one of the best in the world in her industry, at the very top of her game. I would question how anyone could walk out of the concert not feeling inspired, even a 51-year-old guy working in private equity.
I took away three powerful lessons from seeing Taylor perform that have inspired me to make changes in my own life.
The Power of Over Delivering
The Power of Persistence
The Power of Allowing Yourself to Shine
The Power of Over Delivering
For each of the 45 songs Taylor performed, she wore a specific outfit, performed a perfectly choreographed dance routine, and displayed a unique set which represented the era, the song, or both. The intensity of her planning, practice, and attention to detail were obvious, even to the casual concert goer. For three hours, Taylor brought her full self and 100% of her energy to the sold-out arena as though each song was the finale. From the opening moment — when a large clock counted down to her entrance — to the final scene where she was seemingly swallowed up by the stage, Taylor Swift over delivered.
If you’re wondering how this tour became one of the biggest headlines of the summer, it was because no matter how much you paid for your ticket (scalped tickets were $3,000+), where you sat, or what expectations you had entering the show, you likely walked out of the arena with your mind blown, feeling like you got your money’s worth. When an experience is that universally well-received, word spreads quickly.
Consider your professional life. The people for whom you are performing are your employees, boss, customers, students, or investors. What are they expecting? What would it look like for you to be the very best in the world at what you do? What would it look like for you to wildly outperform, to the point that anyone would tell ten people about their interaction with you?
“What would it look like for you to wildly outperform, to the point that anyone would tell ten people about their interaction with you?”
The fervor over the Eras Tour reminds me of a story I once heard the founders of Airbnb recite on a podcast. They brainstormed what it would take to get a five (out of five)-star review, and agreed that the place had to be clean, easy to access, and consistent with the online photos. The founders then discussed what it would look like to get six stars, and then seven stars. Eventually, they went all the way up to 11 stars, where the guest, upon arriving at the airport, was met with a parade of elephants and marching bands, received a tour of the new city, and got tickets to all the greatest events of the weekend. While the 11-star experience is likely not practical to provide (as an Airbnb host or in any other profession), what if you consistently aimed for six or seven stars?
Over delivering will force you to be creative, and to think differently than your competition. It will increase your customer retention, and as in the case of Taylor Swift’s concert, will foster viral word-of-mouth marketing. Give people more than they expect, and you can build nearly anything you want.
The Power of Persistence
Taylor Swift’s Netflix documentary, “Ms. Americana,” includes a scene from 2018 where Taylor is waiting by the phone to hear if her recent album, “Reputation,” was nominated for any Grammy Awards.
Taylor Swift in the documentary “Miss Americana.” Photo credit: Netflix
When her publicist on the other end of the line tells her she is not nominated, you see the air drain from her body, she is heartbroken. In a scene around that same time, after a heated dispute with artist Kanye West, Taylor is vilified by him and the press, and at one point says “Hashtag #TaylorSwiftisOverParty is the number one trend on Twitter worldwide. Do you know how many people need to be tweeting that they hate you for that to happen?”
It would have been easy for Taylor Swift to actually be “over.” She could have made excuses about how she was unfairly treated by the media in the Kayne dispute, and from what I can tell, she would have been justified in those thoughts. I imagine she didn’t really feel like going to work in the first few weeks after the Grammy snub and that Twitter hashtag. She probably felt like crawling under her covers and shutting out the world.
Instead of wallowing, she focused on what she could control. After a short period of feeling down, she said something that proved prescient, “I just need to make a better record.” Taylor took a single step in the direction she wanted to go. And she followed that with another step, and another, and another. The period between 2019 and 2022 was the most prolific in Taylor’s history. She produced four albums and won a Grammy for Album of the Year (Folklore, 2021); American Music Awards’ Artist of the Decade (2019) and Artist of the Year (2019, 2020, 2022); Billboard’s Woman of the Decade (2019) and Top Female Artist (2021); among countless others. She then celebrated by launching the most successful tour in the history of music, estimated to gross in excess of $1.4 billion by the time she wraps her international sweep in 2024.
Her persistence is a beautiful reminder that greatness does not come from big sweeping motions, it comes from taking that next step in the direction of your goal. Taking action does not come from motivation; motivation comes from taking action. When a setback arrives, you can “shake it off,” and keep moving toward your bigger dream.
“Greatness does not come from big sweeping motions, it comes from taking that next step in the direction of your goal.”
The Power of Allowing Yourself to Shine
I only knew a few of Taylor’s biggest songs before attending the concert, but that didn’t really matter, because like everyone else there, I got to fully enter the world she created. She wrote lyrics about her personal struggles and sang them to all of us while being open, vulnerable, funny, humble, and confident at the same time.
Watching Taylor Swift at the peak of her game — unapologetically being the truest version of herself — lifted us all. I walked out of her concert feeling powerful and inspired. Throughout the show, I thought about how I could play so much bigger in my own life. In the days following, I started to slowly give myself permission in areas that were causing me fear, like teaching, building Alpine, and leaning into my relationships.
“Watching Taylor Swift at the peak of her game — unapologetically being the truest version of herself — lifted us all. I walked out of her concert feeling powerful and inspired. Throughout the show, I thought about how I could play so much bigger in my own life.”
Writer, speaker, humanitarian, and 2024 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson said, “It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us… And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
We often stop ourselves from playing big, using our imaginations to envision what might go wrong or how we might get hurt, fail, or be poorly perceived by others. But what if we used that same imagination to envision a positive outcome, or to give ourselves permission to proceed without even knowing the exact outcome, provided we are moving in the direction that gives us the most energy?
Our lives have less to do with the events that happen and more to do with the stories we tell ourselves about those events. We are constantly writing the stories of our lives. No matter where we are or what we have done previously, we can be the heroes of our stories, and a new story can start anytime.
“We are constantly writing the stories of our lives. No matter where we are or what we have done previously, we can be the heroes of our stories, and a new story can start anytime.”
While most of us are unlikely to ever play a three-hour concert to 70,000 screaming fans, our stories can be just as inspiring and meaningful in our own spheres of influence — no matter how large or small they may be in comparison to others. We can each own a story where, like Taylor Swift, we give ourselves permission to be fully ourselves. If we choose to do so, who knows who we might inspire!
