Five Things I Learnt from Taylor Swift

It’s been a month since I donned a red silk jumpsuit and packed myself into a Jubilee line train bound for Wembley along with 700 000 bejewelled Swifties. Compared to my last Taylor Swift concert back in 2014 (ah! the beloved Red tour!), Eras was in another league altogether.

The stats are well known: the Eras tour is the highest grossing tour of all time and Swift has broken ticket sales and attendance records left, right and centre. Over the last two decades, Taylor Swift’s popularity has exponentiated, and she is now one of the most recognised people on the planet. And yet the Taylor Swift shimmying her way through the 3-hour Eras setlist still seems as approachable as the singer I saw ten years ago. It’s an incredible feat to retain the common touch, even as your star rises and goes totally stratospheric.

In the month following the concert, I’ve realised that Taylor Swift’s extraordinary example holds important lessons.

Here are 5 Things I’ve Learnt from Taylor Swift…

1.Stick at it

20 years later, Taylor Swift commands a global audience of millions but her early career resembled that of many other artists. She too had to hustle, building a following by playing small venues and scaling up with each success. By producing regular new material (Swift’s output is remarkable with a new album roughly every two years), she stayed in the zeitgeist. With each new release she had occasion to tour, raise her profile and induct a new cohort into her fandom.

2. Innovate

Now the stuff of legend, it’s well known that Taylor Swift’s jumping of musical genres e.g. Red’s transition from country to pop, was met with concern and opposition. It’s easy to imagine experienced industry executives advising the then 23-year old singer, to stick to the path she knew. Thank heavens she didn’t. At each turn Swift has followed her own intuition, not merely to follow a trend, but out of her own interest. It’s a lesson to us all, that innovation, especially when done out of curiosity and interest, can be the key to success.

3. Have faith in yourself

Looking at the triumphant figure she cuts in photos, you’d be forgiven for thinking Taylor Swift was born to this. However, it takes a lot of self-belief to weather twenty years of celebrity. Her humiliations are well known, including the 2016 public shaming, which saw her reviled by the press and prompted a temporary retreat. Many would not have recovered but Swift built on the painful experience to become bigger than ever. In what must be one of her most admirable qualities, Swift’s enduring conviction in her music, her vision and herself, is an example to every person pursuing a dream.

4. Be nice

Much is made of Taylor Swift’s ‘good girl’ persona. Throughout her career Swift has projected a sweet affability, which many have questioned. Is it an act? Surely she can’t be that sweet when she’s so successful? But being consistent in her image and erring on the side of likeability, she has won over more people than she has alienated. Cynics may say it’s part of a carefully crafted persona designed to endear and entrap, but after twenty years of being nice, she deserves every compliment she receives.

5. Find your calling

Now regarded as one of the greatest singer-songwriters of today, Taylor Swift is undeniably talented. However, I imagine she would continue to write songs and perform even if her fame vanished. When you have a vocation, it will always be what you return to. That’s not to say carving out new musical territory is always fun, but by knowing this is what you have to do, it’s easier to make progress. I have no doubt in twenty years time, Taylor Swift will still be writing songs and celebrating forty years of a successful career.

For aspiring artists, Taylor Swift is an extreme example of what is means to build and be successful. Nonetheless, every life holds lessons and for me personally, I can see at least five good reasons to be a bit more Taylor Swift.