“You've gotta learn to love the
grind because life is the grind.”—John Calipari
A Tour De Force in the
Last Millennium
Starting from the eighteenth century, Johann Sebastian Bach
has remained one of the greatest composers of all time. And a piece of his
work, The Well-Tempered Clavier has been appreciated in the world of artistic composition
for far more than two long centuries.
Bach’s masterpieces came about, not by mere luck but by sheer
grind. To rewrite Bach’s entire archive manually; it would take a smart,
legible hand-writer about 70 years of diligent labour. This is according to a
professional copyist. And that’s merely to copy and rewrite. Imagine what it
took Bach to create it in the first place.
If you are wondering what it takes to
do great work, read the sentence below. Bach said:
“Ceaseless
work, analysis,
reflection, writing much, endless
self-correction, that is my secret.”
He had to put in
huge loads of work for many years to produce a few of his enduring
masterpieces. That’s always the rule; no sidestepping, no shortcut.
A Tour De Force in this Millennium: The Book Thief
The British daily
newspaper, The Guardian made the following comment on The Book Thief:
“A novel of
breathtaking scope, masterfully told.”
On this remarkable
work of art, Markus Zusak received many awards after its release in 2005. And
it has remained on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 520 weeks;
that’s over ten solid years. In
addition, the book has been translated into more than thirty-nine languages, world-wide.
If you have never heard his name, and you are
wondering how the fortunate writer became an overnight success, read on.
It
took Markus Zusak ceaseless writing and
endless self-correction for more than 1000 days of mental rigour to finish just that one novel. Great work always
demands a great deal of preparation and uncommon measure of sacrifice,
especially when no one is watching.
Whether it is in music or it is in literature,
or in any other endeavour of life, to produce a tour de force (skillful feat)
of any kind, there is no substitute for self-application and intensive work.
The American multibillionaire businessman, Mark Cuban explains this truth as
follows: “It takes time, it's a grind. There are no shortcuts. You've got to
grind and grind.”
Back to Us
We may be
tempted to think that we cannot produce like the Bach’s and Zusak’s of this
world because they are born genius and somehow special. But that would be a
wrong assumption to hold and believe.
Why? Because…
“Genius is
1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration,” answered Thomas Edison; one of the most
prolific inventors in human history.
That is the
secret of all great masters. They grind, they toil, and they slog. They produce
their tours de force with a resolute force of purpose and unyielding mental power.
They became exceptional masters by learning to love the grind, while the rest of
the world befriended excuses and complained about circumstances. To the masters,
‘life’ is the grind; opportunity is the work; and duty is the joy.
If we can
commit to relentless refinement of our innate gifts, we can also accomplish
incredible things. Arguably, it is not about blind luck, and it is less about
genetics. Certainly, it is more about the determination to master our craft by
doing the work every single day. It is about choosing to fall in love with the daily
grind.
Be willing
to put in the work, no matter how painful it is for you at the moment. This is
really what it takes. There is just no way around it; and the greatest organist
of his time had thrown us a challenge. Bach said: “Anyone who works as hard as I did can achieve
the same results.”
Let’s take
that promising assertion to heart and see what happens in the long run.
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