The Most Serious Joke Ever Written: How Do You Get To Carnegie Hall?

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? It’s such an old joke, but it’s still so good. I’ll tell the joke at the bottom, but first, why it’s so good.

Asking where something is, about its history, what it’s like – these are all fine and valid questions. But, they don’t address why something is there. They don’t address why it matters.

When we talk about success, or making it, or reaching some personal or professional height, we should keep Carnegie Hall in mind. We may know where success is, but we also have to know why it’s there if we want to know how to get to it.

Because, as the joke smartly goes, a group of kids late for a concert in NYC stop a man carrying an instrument case and say, “Hey! How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The man pauses and looks blankly at them. He huffs and starts to turn away. “Come on,” they shout. “We’re late and we’re lost!” The man turns and says to the group, “Practice.”

It’s the journey, not the destination. It’s the persistence, not the end position. It’s the process, not (just) the outcome.