“Greatness is not in where we stand, but in what direction we are moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it- but sail we must, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.” ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes
Get moving.
Keep moving.
Make plans. Big ones. Small ones. Medium sized ones.
Make plans and act on them.
Plan. Prepare. Act. Create.
You have something in you that will make this world a better place.
What is it?
Are you working on sharing it with us?
“Everything being a constant carnival, there is no carnival left.” ~ Victor Hugo
We’ve all felt it.
You hit a home run. You hit an all-time high. You’ve just given a Gold Medal performance.
That’s good, right?
Sure it is.
But then, right on its heels comes the pressure to top yourself.
It’s relentless.
And predictable.
Then you start thinking that everyone else expects you to do it every time. You know you probably can’t deliver at that level every time, but what do you do?
If you’re smart you celebrate the personal best.
You enjoy the moment.
Then you go back to doing what you do because you love it. You do it because you love people. You do it ignoring the pressure to join the circus.
Nobody is great all the time.
Nobody.
Quit the circus.
Refuse to perform in the carnival.
Ignore the pressure.
You’re better than that.
You’re better than that all the time.
We all like to know the deep secrets of the universe, ESPECIALLY if there’s a shortcut involved.
A headline like this really builds anticipation, right?
So, are you ready for the life-changing content the title promised you? Are you sitting down? Brace yourself. Here we go.
Amazing shortcuts to greatness… don’t exist!!!
That’s right, there are no amazing shortcuts to greatness, or anything worth your aspirations. Sure, there are those who are “”struck by lightning” or become “overnight sensations,” but the they are very few and far between and are mostly short-lived stories of too much too fast and a recipe for shipwreck. To put it simply, shortcuts short-circuit the process that makes us the real deal.
You do want to be the real deal, right?
Sure you do.
I don’t think anybody decides they want to be a fake or a sham or a pile of hype, but looking for shortcuts opens the door for you to be deluded – deluded into thinking that there is an easier way to get where you want to go, but people just don’t know about it yet. Anything worth doing, anything worth aspiring to has a price tag attached to it.
Let’s be real for a moment. The price of becoming may just be more than we want to pay. The life you desire is a series of steps. Some of those steps are bigger than others, but there is no quality life outside of the steps it takes to get there.
I used to joke with my kids when we were stuck in traffic that someone should invent a helicopter car for just such times. Feeling stuck or trapped will cause you to look for workarounds or shortcuts, and there may be some available to you. They always have a price tag, too. Usually a hidden one. Usually a big one. Usually bigger than the price of actually taking the necessary step to be the real deal.
Becoming the real deal is a recipe that includes hard work, desire, passion, hunger, resolve, and patience. It includes a commitment to a lifetime of learning, growing and becoming better all the time. It includes staying focused on doing whatever it takes to be the real deal – whatever it cost, however long it takes, no matter how many steps are involved in the process.
The next time someone tries to con you into thinking you can skip important steps, remember this illustration and chuckle to yourself:
Enjoy the steps.
Enjoy the journey.
Take joy in getting there.
No shortcuts, ok?
“Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they’re looking for ideas.”
~ Paula Poundstone
Kids are amazing. They have no sense of limitations and virtually no awareness of the hand they have been dealt in life. Ask one what they want to be when they grow up and you’ll get some pretty amazing answers. Fireman, pro football player, president, princess, doctor… On the humorous side, maybe they’ll even tell you they want to be a dog or a tree. Realistic answers may not even be in plain sight.
One amazing takeaway from this is kids’ missing sense of limitations. They think they can be whatever they want to be. They may not have a plan yet, but they believe. Hopefully they won’t let anyone talk them down from their dream (unless it’s the dog or tree thing.)
Oh for that sense of the possibilities – do you still have it? When did you quit believing it was possible? When did you become more aware of the odds against you than the possibilities? Why? It’s time to think about what you want to be when you grow up – even if you’re 30, 50 or 70.
You were created for greatness, but you must believe it to get there. My wife, Debbie, quoted Keith Moore last week on Twitter: “When God tells you something, He’s not informing you. He is empowering you to do it.” That changes everything. You can do everything God created you to do. He’s convinced. So much so that he already gave you the power to become.
So…
What do YOU want to be when you grow up?
“A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men.”
Proverbs 18:16
Relax.
Don’t get so uptight about what is or isn’t happening with your gift or who is or isn’t seeing it. Your job is not to make things happen. It’s not even your job to figure out how to make things happen. Your job is to nurture, feed and grow up the gift on the inside of you. It’s also your job to keep your heart from getting calloused or cold.
Make room for your gift. Make room in your life. Make room in your heart. Make room in your thinking. Make room in your day. If you do, your gift will make room for you and bring you before great men. You can count on it.
It’s the life you were intended to live. It’s the end of the story of the diligent.
“What another would have done as well as you, do not do it. What another would have said as well as you, do not say it; what another would have written as well, do not write it. Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself-and thus make yourself indispensable.” André Gide
I’d like to ask you a question… or two. Or better yet, three:
What is unique about you?
What is it that exists nowhere but in you?
What’s the difference between you and all the others?
If you don’t know the answer to those questions, take some time. Get quiet. Don’t rush it. Even if you do know the answer, what harm would it do to take a few minutes to think about it?
You were born to excel. Excel at what? You tell me. Or at least tell yourself…
Maybe it’s time to remind yourself of your dreams. Maybe it’s time to re-discover what makes you come alive on the inside. What have you laid aside that it’s time to pick up again?
Follow the sage words of André Gide and “be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself.” By doing so you may just “make yourself indispensable.”
There’s nobody quite like you.
However…
Most of your life you have probably been told that “you’re just like so and so” or “you remind me of this person” or “you look just like your Mom/Dad.” I don’t know why, but it helps the rest of us feel better if we can categorize, compare, measure and assimilate you. The more aware you are of your uniqueness, the more you will likely bristle at our efforts.
If we struggle to fit you into one of our boxes, in frustration we may even say something like “why can’t you be more like ___________?” If you wrestle with us, maybe we can shame you into our mold, into our image. Maybe not. Probably not.
The truth is you are uniquely you. There has never been and never will be another you. You were born to show us something we can’t see anywhere else, write something that will change the way we look at the world, break a barrier others were talked out of attempting.
We may never learn to see what you see or know what you know unless you insist on staying out of our boxes. You may not do anything great if you let us tell you what we need from you and ignore what we really need. We really need you to give yourself wholeheartedly to your passion. We really need you to be comfortable enough in your own skin to be uniquely you.
There’s a famous Bible story that illustrates the point very well. It’s not the main point of the story, so you may have never seen it in there. David was about to face Goliath and:
“Saul outfitted David as a soldier in armor. He put his bronze helmet on his head and belted his sword on him over the armor. David tried to walk but he could hardly budge. David told Saul, “I can’t even move with all this stuff on me. I’m not used to this.” And he took it all off. Then David took his shepherd’s staff, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s pack, and with his sling in his hand approached Goliath…” ~ 1 Samuel 17:37-40 The Message
David had the courage to take off everything Saul tried to pile on him. Saul was trying to help, but it wasn’t helping. David was smart enough to know that if he was going to win, he had to fight like David, not like Saul. Not with Saul’s expectations. Not with Saul’s armor.
You need to have that same kind of courage. You need to be willing to tell us “I can’t even move with all this stuff on me. I’m not used to this.” Then do something great.
You need to be willing to be you. None of us can be, except you.
There’s nobody quite like you.
Creative Myths #6
“If You Did It Once, You Can Do It Every Time”
Here’s the truth: if it was easy to consistently be great, we all would do it.
In creative endeavors there are no magic formulas for greatness. This is the one big thing that most people misunderstand about the lives and careers of artists. In fact, an industry uses the myth every day to sell magazines, newspapers and get page hits on the web. I’m talking about the professional “critic”… people actually get paid to criticize other people’s work. Don’t get me started. That’s another post.
How many times have you read a review of a CD or movie and seen something like “… isn’t (their) best work…”or “… slump…”??? The seasoned artist, actor and musician will always be compared to their highest plateau. In fact, in the critic’s world, you stand a much better chance of getting a good review on your first “trip to the plate.”
With your first project, or first few, there will probably be a “honeymoon” with reviewers and the public. And just like relationships, the cute little quirks about your art can become “irritating” and “so last year” as you repeat them on later projects. Ever heard of the sophomore slump? It’s the phenomenon of an artist, under pressure having to create something better than their first project. Here’s the problem: your first project(s) are actually the highlight reel of your creative life up to that point. The “new” artist is rarely a NEW artist. They have just been given a bigger, more influential platform.
Remember: if it was easy to consistently be great, we all would do it.
This is nothing new. Even with famous painters, every individual piece is not a masterpiece. Not all of Monet’s paintings are as valuable as others. Why is it that out of a lifetime of work, a master artist will only be remembered for one or two paintings? There are peaks and valleys in every artist’s career. Consider yourself fortunate if something that you’ve created is remembered.
Bringing it into our world, let’s use U2 as an example. Out of a three-decade career, there are arguably two or three peaks. I think most who have followed for any length of time would agree that the “Joshua Tree”, “Unforgettable Fire”, “Rattle and Hum” era reigns as the high peak in their career. They have created great art since then, but it all is being compared to their artistic pinnacle. It doesn’t change the fact that they can still sell out stadiums around the world. Don’t you think if they could top “Joshua Tree” every time that they would have done it every time?
U2 is far from in a slump, but every offering they bring will be compared with their greatest effort to date. They haven’t lost anything. They haven’t forgotten how. They are the same people that created the former peak. It’s just that some artistic works have greater impact than others, even from the same creative minds.
Ebbs and flows are a part of every creative career. Be slow to label an artist as a “sell-out” or a “has-been.” Be just as slow with yourself. I’m smart enough to know that every song I write isn’t great, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still write great songs. One of the joys of being a seasoned artist is being able to take pleasure in presenting your best work and keeping the rest to yourself.
After all… if it was easy to consistently be great, we all would do it.
Creative Myth Number One: “It’s All About Talent”
It’s NOT all about talent. It’s also about craft. A craft that must be worked. The difference between an average artist and a great artist is their level of commitment to developing the gift.
There is a seed of greatness in all of us, but that seed must be allowed to grow in order for the gift to produce. That seed is our natural ability. Some are born with more of it than others, but regardless, to be great in anything takes time and investment. Great creativity requires great commitment. We will be highly developed in the things we have given time and energy.
An unrefined gift can be a stumbling block – a barrier to the accessibility of your art. It takes a very special person to appreciate a diamond in the rough. A drawing from a toddler is cute and charming, once they explain what it actually IS that you are viewing. It’s not so cute and charming when you see that same kind of drawing from the same person after they’ve become an adult. I know, ridiculous analogy, but you get the point.
However, there are some who have more talent in their little finger than others have in their whole body. I have known artists who were so naturally gifted that they spent little or no time developing their gift. Because their 20% effort was about as good as someone else’s 80%, they relied completely on their natural ability to get by. That’s the problem I have with this – trying to “get by”. What kind of greatness has the world missed from those who think that way? A “get by” mentality is not greatness. It’s cheating. It’s also uninspiring.
In creative matters, I don’t believe greatness is measured by comparison to others. Greatness is figured by attitude, time and commitment measured against an individual’s potential. Are you better than last year? That’s the road to greatness. Will you be satisfied with anything less than your fully realized potential? If the answer is “no”, that’s the road to greatness. It’s the way it’s supposed to be. It’s also inspiring.
Be diligent. Be great. Be inspiring.
