Two Years, One Song with Arcade Fire’s Win Butler

Win Butler of the chart topping band, Arcade Fire, once took a keyboard on tour to write music. While it wasn’t for a lack of trying, Butler was only able to write a single song. How long did he try? 

Two years. 

Twenty-four months of writing and playing melodies on the keyboard yielded just one song. It’s worth mentioning that Butler is a professional musician whose livelihood depends on his ability to produce quality music. He’s no amature. 

Whether you can relate to Mr. Butler’s work directly or not is beside the point. In training, you’ll work hard and the results you’re after will ebb and flow. Especially as your training age increases, your ability to make gains will become less and less linear. 

Luckily for anyone who has enjoyed Arcade Fire’s music, Win Butler kept banging his keyboard on that tour bus whether it yielded songs or not. Now, hopefully (for your sake) you’ll keep plugging away with your training when the ideal outcomes feel fewer and farther between.