A violinist played for 45 minutes in the New York subway. A handful of people stopped, a couple clapped, and the violinist raised about $30 in tips.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. In that subway, Joshua played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.
Two days before he played in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out a Boston theatre, and the seats averaged about $100.
The experiment proved that the extraordinary in an ordinary environment does not shine and is so often overlooked and undervalued.
There are brilliantly talented people everywhere who aren’t receiving the recognition and reward they deserve. But once they arm themselves with value and confidence and remove themselves from an environment that isn’t serving them, they thrive and grow.