Whatever You Do, Become a Master

By: jwilder, 2/16/2022

Why not go all-in on the talents we have? Why stop at hobby level? Why not do something crazy with the one life we have and become a master?

I chased the wrong thing for a while. There is a guitarist that absolutely blows my mind. That guitarist inspired me. However, no matter how much I practiced I could never get even close to what he played. Some things I could mimic, but other things I could not. My mind could not even figure out how he did what he did. And my fingers weren’t able to reproduce what he did.

After years of practice I realized that his mind and his body are unique to him. And while some highly skilled musicians could duplicate what he played, they could not compose a new work that sounded like him.

I realized that there are some things I love, but cannot do very well. But I still love them. I realized that effort is not always effective when applied to something that is not your talent. You can get part of the way, but you can never come close to mastery.

Your talent is not necessarily the same thing as what you enjoy in life. In other words, there is a difference between being a fan of something and being talented at something. That is why some people are patrons of the arts, rather than artists themselves. They appreciate art, they love art, they buy art!

Initially I had this idea in my mind that I would become a singer songwriter progressive rock guitarist. Oh yes, I would spontaneously combust if that were to happen. But that’s not my talent, it’s my appreciation. I am a patron of progressive rock!

But how do you discover what your talents are? You try, you experiment, you do, you create, you follow your curiosity, until you can answer the question for yourself. This is my talent! Then, go all-in.

I believe we are on the right track in finding our talents when we can devote time to improving our talents, and it is sustainable. In other words, we can do it year, after year, after year, forever. That’s talent!

Now, what I want to do is imitate my heros. They follow their talent and devote their lives to creating. I will do the same, with my talents.

We only have one life. Why not find your talents, go all-in, and become a master?

James Wilder

I write about success principles and practices that help dreamers take action and achieve their goals! I believe that success is for anyone that truly desires it.

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