The Desert of Arizona
Clear 49 Degrees – 7:41 a.m.
Back in my music days, I had a bit of a misunderstanding with reality.
I’d look around at all of the people who had ascended into great positions in the industry and wonder why I didn’t have that.
For some reason, I felt that TALENT should award someone the results that come with decades of work without actually going through the decades of work. Ha!
The fact is, you can’t walk down the street without tripping over talent. It’s all over the place. As John Taylor Gatto says, “Genius is as common as dirt.”
What ISN’T all over the place are talented people who’ve decided to direct their talent, consistently, for an extended period of time, to create something great.
When you find THAT, it sticks out like a diamond at a coal convention.
In the world of the Incomparable Expert, this is what we do.
We are not hunting and killing something and doing it in the shortest amount of time, using the most direct route to the “goal.”
Not only does that lead to a life where you have to wake up every day and hunt, it also means you always pursue short term gratification over long term greatness.
We are growing an orchard that bears fruit.
And no sane individual would plant a fruit tree today and expect fruit tomorrow. Instead, they work for a while preparing the environment that will grow the fruit and support the production for years into the future.
This might sound nuts, but LIFE IS TOO SHORT NOT to take a long view of things.
In other words, life is too short NOT to dare to be great. And greatness takes time.
It is not a goal you achieve, it is a practice to which you commit.