Monday, October 23, 2006

Work hard, achieve greatness

I like the message this article sends. It disputes the idea of innate talent and says that greatness is achieved through hard work. I'd like to believe that it's true, because it leaves each of us with a world of choices and opportunities to be good, even great at whatever we choose. Pay attention to the article's definition of hard work - it's not just mindless hour clocking. Practice must be deliberate to have an effect.

I need to structure my writing time with this in mind. Less mindless blogging...

3 comments:

Dodi said...

Yes, please start mindfully blogging.

I was going to say something before, but...

Dodi said...

They lost me in the second paragraph with "And not just any hard work, but work of a particular type that's demanding and painful."

Painful. Yep, ten years of painful daily practice is the minimum for greatness. That explains all of us average people.

Seriously though, it totally makes sense. Did you get a sinking feeling when you read part of the 20-30 years for a lot of great writers?

Good article, but made me feel a bit soul sick.

Dodi said...

Are you ready to start writing your novel at midnight?