00:00hello how's it going and welcome back to
00:01another episode of twep violin as you
00:03know it's March which is both of our
00:05birthday months oo so I mean as this
00:09video comes out I probably will be
00:11turning 31 or have just turned 31 and
00:14Brett turned yes I'm already 32 by this
00:17video's come out it can't change that
00:19fact yes life is difficult so we thought
00:22we switch it up a little bit on the
00:23channel and do a 30 lessons we've leared
00:27by the time we reach our 30s
00:30isn't that crazy crazy time flies when
00:33we started doing this YouTube video
00:34World 21 and 22 yeah we've compiled a
00:36list of 30 things we have found to be
00:39meaningful you know a lot of these were
00:41learned through many Battle Scars that
00:43we have endured maybe some of you can
00:45take some value out of it it's going to
00:47be a long video let's get straight into
00:49it number one it never hurts to ask this
00:52one actually goes back all the way to
00:542016 2015 I don't remember kind of when
00:57we first started making videos on
00:58Facebook if you guys the OG fans that
01:01were there if you guys remember that we
01:02did a video with Janine Jansen who's
01:04this incredible soless and people
01:06thought there's no way no one no way
01:08Janine will do a video with you guys but
01:10I just asked her just bit of context
01:13Brett was working in the Sydney Symphony
01:14Orchestra there's a lot of pressure not
01:18to talk to The Soloist it makes I mean
01:20it makes sense they just want to respect
01:21The Soloist time and all that stuff yeah
01:23so I was waiting in the Green Room
01:24eating lunch eating dinner actually
01:26before concert and then saw Janine walk
01:28by I was like oh my God that's Janine
01:30you know you have kind of like a split
01:32second to make a decision your whole
01:34life flashes before you left my food ran
01:36chased her down the corridor and I was
01:39like hey Janine how are you and I all
01:41super nervous and she like oh hi and I
01:43was like oh my God I love you I don't
01:44know why I said that and then she's like
01:46oh that's so nice of you I'm H I start
01:48panicking HH then I said do you want to
01:51make a video together that's what we do
01:52and I showed a couple of videos and and
01:54then she said sure meet me in my
01:56dressing room just before rehearsal then
01:59I was was like no way and it happened
02:02yeah she could have said no but she said
02:03yes okay lesson number two for me this
02:06is something I learned maybe in the last
02:08four or 5 years is uh to really know
02:11yourself maybe some of the things that
02:12I'm not so good at do I really need to
02:15prove myself in that field or do I
02:17instead just double down the things I'm
02:19naturally good at and then find a team
02:21to work with look it took us like 20
02:24something years to figure that out and
02:25it's true when you're in a system where
02:28your fish and tell you to climb of
02:30course you're going to feel terrible we
02:32discovered that I'm very much oral
02:34Learner in music where bre very
02:36kinesthetic and so even the way we learn
02:37music you'll notice some people
02:39highlight the music a lot they're
02:40probably visual Learners and so finding
02:42your own approach to things can be very
02:45helpful exactly I work very hard trying
02:48to levitate still hasn't what happen yet
02:50third one is don't be afraid to take
02:51risks and go against the safe path what
02:54does that mean well for us our risk was
02:57I mean first of all we didn't study
03:00but the second risk actually was more
03:01prominent is also that when we were in
03:04Orchestra we quit to do two set it
03:06worked out pretty well for us but the
03:07whole idea is that have the courage to
03:09kind of go out of the space where it's
03:11socially safe and take those risks it
03:13could be a social risk it could be a
03:15financial risk it could be anything
03:16right like just be smart about it right
03:18don't just all on red yeah yeah not that
03:22type of risk not that type of risk don't
03:23go Casino B all your life SS away if we
03:26had followed the safe path and went to
03:28do postgraduate to say wouldn't have
03:30happen watch out for people in your life
03:33that are too agreeable one of the many
03:36this is one example that is replicated a
03:38lot so what usually happens is someone
03:42offers to do something for free or just
03:45un agreed upon right that say we hey we
03:47want to hey Eddie here's $100 to do this
03:51and Eddie goes yes I will do this now
03:54but Eddie deep down things no way I I
03:58deserve $300 $100 is so little but yes
04:03yeah exactly exactly you got to be
04:05really nice yes I'll do it 400 yes so
04:08this is what happens and essentially
04:09after what because they're scared of
04:10that conflict saying hey I think this
04:13should be 300 mhm what the agreed upon
04:15thing is 100 we all set it out then how
04:17am I supposed to know there 6 months
04:18down the line I go on the internet and I
04:21go Brett bully me into doing it for $100
04:25when it was meant to be 300 actually if
04:28you had just said that if you had just
04:30said that we would have solved this
04:32problem straight away the issue is not
04:34about the free or discount there are
04:35people that generally give free service
04:37we have done so much things for free in
04:39the past yeah of course it's not about
04:41that it's more about whether that person
04:44has a courage to speak up do speak up
04:46about problems you have to surface them
04:49especially if you want to form any
04:53relationship I watched a video once and
04:55it made a lot of sense to me he was
04:57talking about whether people fall out of
04:58love and how people become cold
05:01explanation was people don't naturally
05:04just fall out of love what happens is
05:07resentment comes in MH when someone else
05:10does something and they're not happy
05:12about it and they don't speak up they
05:14bottle it in and over time as it bottles
05:18resentment and then you just become cold
05:20and distant and so that's something you
05:23definitely want to avoid in any
05:25meaningful relationship in your life
05:27otherwise what's the point so that's the
05:29flip side of that if you yourself have
05:31issues find the courage and a time and a
05:34place to tactfully and respectfully
05:36bring it yes because every second counts
05:38it will go on for months years and it's
05:42just anyone that feels insecure about it
05:44I think it's a good thing to practice
05:46speak up six uh action speaks louder
05:49than words we all know this one there's
05:51so people that say all these things but
05:53that actually do it or say all these
05:55things out and their action are
05:56completely opposite what they say even
05:58to yourself Say Hey I want to become a
06:02better musician but you don't practice I
06:05don't think you want to become a m
06:06better musician you're just telling
06:07yourself like actually start practicing
06:10maybe you'll get there and do action is
06:12like if it's habits just start doing
06:13every day uh if you say you're this type
06:16of person you'll never do this well then
06:17live by it if you're this type of person
06:19then do it and there's also a very very
06:22good way spot out people that are being
06:25sused it's like it's like observing an
06:28animal observe the behavior and then
06:31you'll really know where the intentions
06:32lie don't really listen to the words
06:36contracts uh goes both ways we made the
06:38mistake of not doing proper contracts
06:41and we also made the mistake of not
06:42reading contracts properly we've also
06:44made the mistake of having done a
06:46contract but then having lost it yes and
06:49then regretting it cuz we needed it 3
06:51years down the line most people are fine
06:53but there's a reason why contracts exist
06:55yes because it takes literally just one
06:57or few people to ruin everything and
06:59it's happened to us for the longest time
07:01we did everything based on trust which
07:03is fine until it it's not fine yeah it
07:06really forces you to think through and
07:09bring out to the table all the weird
07:11different scenarios yeah it's a bit like
07:13speaking up it is about speaking up it's
07:15like okay 99% of the chance it will be
07:18fine but in the chance that in this
07:20performance a storm and a hurricane
07:23blows up the venue who's the one that's
07:25going to take responsibility and I can
07:27imagine someone like 20 just going yeah
07:30I already know you're not going to
07:31listen we're put it here so when you
07:33look back I Told You So cherish those
07:36around you when you're younger you go
07:38through a phase of you're trying to meet
07:39a lot of people and I think part of that
07:42process is you're also trying to
07:44discover your own identity and it's this
07:46weirdest feeling when friendships or
07:49other relationships that you've invested
07:51so much time and energy in and one day
07:53you just become strangers again and
07:55after a few of those you start to really
07:57think what was the whole point of that
07:58and that's when it really hits home that
08:01quality is more important than quantity
08:03and I would take that any day over being
08:06like the high school popular kid where
08:09500 people wants to go to your party but
08:11then if something happened that and you
08:13need a help none of them is going to
08:15show up the cycle of like
08:17networking LinkedIn connection LinkedIn
08:20connection but yeah it just never stops
08:23and don't pause and think about what's
08:25meaningful does not matter those people
08:27are not going to be at funeral those
08:28people are not going to be there when
08:29you need them the most you don't have
08:31100 grade friends you have no friends
08:33that's the problem don't waste
08:35time du don't waste time delaying your
08:38dreams yeah don't do things that you
08:41think are productive now but in the long
08:43term of your life really doesn't matter
08:45message really kind of hit home for me
08:47when I was 9 years ago so when I was 22
08:51for those you that don't know my father
08:52actually passed away quite early at the
08:55age of 60 from cancer and I think
08:57there's nothing that quite reminds you
09:00of your limited time than your parent
09:03kind of passing away and I remember for
09:06like the next six months I was just like
09:08on a rampage it's like this new sense of
09:11urgency of like the impact and the
09:13things that you want to do in life like
09:15you better do it you can lose anything
09:18and get it back really but you can't get
09:20time back number 10 think for
09:25yourself yeah just think for yourself I
09:27mean a lot of times we all think we we
09:31all don't think that's I think we've
09:33observed that the older we get
09:34apparently when smoking first came out
09:36um doctors were saying smoking was
09:38healthy so everyone was just smoking and
09:40no one really thought to stop and think
09:42about it well even just when we
09:43graduated from con even our teachers
09:46told us go see study that was a moment
09:49in time where we were kind of thoughtful
09:50ourselves not saying it's bad it's just
09:52most people would not think about and
09:54just go overseas we don't know what the
09:55r supposed to think and the easy way to
09:57kind of do that is ask why a few times M
09:59so why would I do that yeah why with
10:02enough wies you kind of usually reach a
10:04better answer the best lies are the ones
10:07that lie to themselves we've met a few
10:10people in the last few years you know
10:12they have been very good at being so
10:14convincing cuz I feel like we're pretty
10:15good at seeing people that just outright
10:17lie once you see the action you're just
10:19like of course like this person is
10:22clearly lying to themselves to convince
10:25us don't jump into it right away a good
10:28way to think about this too is try to
10:31see where the incentives lie next time
10:33your teacher recommends to buy an
10:34instrument check the incentives the
10:3715-year-old watching what does that mean
10:40tell your parents yeah tell your parents
10:42number 12 never sacrifice your health is
10:44it said and done yeah obvious but when
10:45you're young and your body feels great
10:47you don't care you're going to start to
10:49feel things when you hit D yeah I mean I
10:51got sick in 2020 so you don't know I was
10:54working very hard across the clock like
10:56100 hours 1020 hours a week you get to
10:59that point where it's kind of just like
11:00your body falls apart and it's your
11:02body's telling you to slow down a bit
11:04I'm still working a lot but I'm being a
11:05bit more careful for me it's more about
11:07prioritizing the time you spend in
11:10things such as exercising you know
11:12cardio strength training regular sleep
11:15but as you get older you really start
11:17realizing the importance of thinking
11:18long term and a lot of health things are
11:20chronic your decisions now will only hit
11:23you like a truck when you're 60 number
11:2513 form as much as you can is a saying
11:28hard to practice room the other half is
11:30on stage I remember con no one wanted to
11:32perform workshops workshops are the time
11:33where you perform for your peers we took
11:35the opportunity every week as much as we
11:37can even though it was nerve-wracking
11:39but just go for it because how many of
11:41you realize to be a musician watching
11:42this is like all the practice down the
11:44practice room is all there all good but
11:46until you g on stage it disappears I
11:48just got nervous normally I always get
11:49that no it means that place you you
11:52never really truly had down P really
11:54honestly it's just more finding
11:55opportunities to Performance you're not
11:57performing surgery like you play wrong
12:00no what you do while we're on the topic
12:02of Music related things I think the
12:04biggest biggest lesson I learned in the
12:06last 5 years is how to make a good sound
12:09and the importance of making good sound
12:11now for violin what are those
12:13foundational things well you know
12:15there's Rhythm there's intonation and
12:17then there's sound and I found that
12:20probably the biggest differentiator in
12:22the best players versus good players is
12:25the quality of the sound and the
12:27consistency of the sound no matter what
12:29they're playing they can be playing a
12:31scale or they can be playing Paganini
12:33the resonance is just there if you don't
12:36know how to make a good sound on
12:38instruments spend the time to really
12:40figure out how to do that how to achieve
12:42that it will change your life it will
12:44save you so much time down life now
12:45number 15 be around people that will
12:52yes like Chen and yang they will lift
12:55you up I remember one person that I
12:57thought of as a best friend of mine
12:58started never calling me by my name
13:00he'll always like oh look it's two set
13:03violin super weird super weird I thought
13:06he was one of my best friends I don't
13:08even talk to him anymore a lot of that
13:10comes from I guess Envy you realize that
13:12they're not really there to see you
13:14succeed in fact they kind of just want
13:16you to remain at the same level and you
13:18don't want that because that's going to
13:20start weighing down on you and it's
13:21going to subconsciously make you hold
13:23yourself back Envy consumes them but we
13:26consume envy and P it back out
13:29number 16 writing is really good
13:31something that we've done a lot more and
13:33more is to write our thoughts down pen
13:35and paper helps to take your thoughts
13:37out and be able to see it visualize it
13:39cuz writing is essentially how you think
13:40right thinking about thinking the world
13:42can change quickly I I think it's just a
13:45testament to be ready for change and be
13:48okay with the kind of uncertainty I
13:49think a lot of people do freak out but I
13:51think it's good practice to look world
13:53will change we will change be okay with
13:55it so it's all right if you've made it
13:57this far really appreciate that you are
13:59joining us for this conversation yes it
14:01feels good routines and habits are
14:03really important I can say I have a
14:05six-pack but really if I don't have a
14:07sixpack so don't work out I don't really
14:09have a sixpack right yeah it really
14:10helps anchoring you to being someone you
14:13who you are uh if you don't have any
14:15consistency or habits you don't really
14:16know who you are and one of the best
14:18places to start is practicing every day
14:21never stop learning pretty obvious never
14:23ending it's incredible how people
14:25graduate from un and they just stop
14:26learning I think learning is just a
14:28neverend thing and also what you've
14:30learned 5 years ago could be relevant so
14:32it's okay to just get rid of it you
14:33don't have to go this is the way it is
14:35this is fine it's the world changes it's
14:37okay I just trust that you can relearn
14:39it it's all right no such thing as a
14:40dumb question there was a great music
14:43educator in Australia who used to say
14:44that said the only dumb question is a
14:46question you didn't ask because you
14:48looked stupid for a little bit but then
14:50you learned and you won't be stupid for
14:51the rest of your life well the cost of
14:53that is what we talk about you speak up
14:55it blows up later on and it blows up
14:57internally cuz you never learned too 6
14:59months down line you still don't know
15:01what it is number 21 people aren't
15:03always how they appear online now this
15:05one's interesting it should be very
15:07obvious but then I feel like it's not
15:10sometimes it's important to recognize
15:11that a lot of things especially on
15:13social media it's not real we ourselves
15:15got to meet some of our Idols it's
15:17interesting how many of them are exactly
15:20like how they are online and then how
15:22many of them are just completely
15:23different sometimes you're just seeing a
15:25slice of their life you know it's like
15:27like no one's ever going to show
15:28themselves in the toilet but that's part
15:31of their life everyone has to go to the
15:32toilet right we're all hum you're never
15:34going to feel ready you just have to go
15:36for it don't your way is just go for it
15:39and that's the best part actually you
15:41can learn as much as you can and then
15:43don't hold yourself back 23 this is
15:45something that we really like about
15:47morning routines keeping your morning
15:48free it helps to start your day by
15:51forcing yourself carving yourself out
15:53time to do the things that most
15:55important to you and then the rest of
15:56the day you're naturally going to do
15:59your obligations that you have to do
16:00anyway but if you're always just chasing
16:02out the obligations there's a risk that
16:04you won't do the things that aren't
16:06urgent but are very important like this
16:08video you're watching it now this
16:09morning great but go practice afterwards
16:12you will change this is one thing that I
16:14always say to my friends if 20y old me
16:16saw who I was now he would be very
16:19shocked in both positive and negative
16:21ways cuz life changes your experiences
16:23will change and those things will shape
16:25who you are and your beliefs when you
16:27make decisions realize that you might be
16:30a very different person in 10 years time
16:31and that's okay be present I mean it's
16:34just what it is spend the time with
16:35people that you want to be with your
16:37family and friends just be present in
16:39moment don't think about the future all
16:40the other work all that stuff because
16:41there's not much time and you also
16:42realize at the end of the day you're
16:44working so hard because part of you also
16:46wants to spend more of that precious
16:47time with people you care about I think
16:49that's one of the great things about
16:50performing and so don't get into that
16:52head trap of like if you made a mistake
16:54you just keep thinking about the mistake
16:55that you did just experience life as it
16:58happens movie all right learn to save a
17:00discomfort many of you musicians out
17:03there probably have performance anxiety
17:05and that's very normal I had that and I
17:07battled that for a longest time I still
17:08get it a little bit um back then when I
17:10bow started shaking I was like I have to
17:12overcome my nerves I have to overcome my
17:14shaky bow and it just makes it worse cuz
17:16you're fighting what I realized instead
17:17is if I get shaky bow I'm just going to
17:20enjoy the shaky bow everyone it is now
17:23Ricochet I'm going to enjoy it oh I love
17:25this new butterfly sensation in my
17:27stomach it's just a shift of perspective
17:29and it comes and then it goes just
17:30become sadistic in a way right I mean
17:34just do it yeah just do it just do it
17:36number 27 think longterm wow thinking
17:40long term been one of the things that
17:41we've been kind of working on we always
17:43want kind of immediate gratification s
17:45it's like practicing we always want the
17:46shortcut if you always play your scales
17:48properly do slow practice over the
17:50course of 5 years 10 years you're going
17:53to become really good at it the thing is
17:54even it takes a while to learn that
17:56thinking long-term Works cuz it takes a
17:58W for you to actually get results and
18:00think of that realize that this is a
18:02personal favorite of mine I love
18:04challenging my own assumptions content
18:06create a friend of ourse you know he
18:07kind of was enjoying a lot of viral
18:09success his belief was like you know the
18:11human brain has a lot of subconscious
18:13power and if you just believe then you
18:16you harness it and it will make success
18:18achievable so you just have to visualize
18:19the success and it will just happen yeah
18:22and then I told him was like that's true
18:24to an extent but then would you say then
18:26that the people that are stuck in the
18:29slums of poverty stricken countries are
18:31there because they fail to visualize and
18:33take responsibility like that's a bit of
18:35an unfair statement right warning though
18:39you don't want to always do that you can
18:40kind of become annoying yeah actually
18:42you you might lose some friends in the
18:44process but just keep an eye out on that
18:46one keep it to yourself especially those
18:49people that lie to themselves and sell
18:50you something oh if you point out the
18:53inconsistency they will flip out the
18:56no just keep saying no
18:59protect your time protect everything a
19:01lot of time we say yes is to please
19:03others and try to fit in and you don't
19:04want to keep saying yes to things why
19:06could people please her because you
19:07start losing yourself right and
19:09eventually you're going to internally
19:11come bu like yeah there's a philosopher
19:15some of you might know his name is
19:16senica and he wrote in his book he's
19:19like it's curious that humans if someone
19:22was to steal your money or steal your
19:25land or property most humans will fight
19:29how dare you steal my stuff but it's
19:31funny how many of us will let others
19:33steal your time that's crazy yeah learn
19:37to appreciate those that are with you
19:40and don't chase those that aren't going
19:41to be with you it's always like that
19:43right and you don't want to be in
19:44position especially when you're young
19:45when someone's like hating you want
19:47disproved when you get older you just
19:49don't care it's so easy to ignore the 20
19:52great comments and fix that on that one
19:54negative one negative thing happens like
19:59we're going to do this to you're like
20:01I'm a bad person now I'm so terrible oh
20:03no if you get a bit of haters that's the
20:05cost of creating value and for the
20:07people they care about so be it so be it
20:10that's fine it's not the end of the
20:11world it's all good anyway that's the 30
20:13tips when you're 30 and also when you're
20:1730 you get tired quickly so just when
20:20you're younger you have more time use it
20:22well stop wasting time scrolling on Tik
20:25Tok and social media except just watch
20:30please like And subscribe and if you
20:31made this far thank you so much for
20:33watching um oh yeah we got these new
20:35headbands check them out oh yeah woohoo
20:38you don't know my last name is Chen
20:40which is Mandarin and young is sheep
20:43sheep oh I pointed the wrong one yeah
20:46super cute super nice so if you guys
20:48want to get these check it out but
20:50always don't get this until you've
20:52practiced so go practice and we'll see
20:54you next time bye-bye
