They say genius is the ability to take pains. I came across the following article on the Metallica site about Kirk Hammett:
"A keen student of his instrument even today, Hammett followed his first 'Kill 'Em All' tour by taking lessons from Joe Satriani, and embarked upon a passage of guitar self-education that took in jazz, blues and classical styles. Indeed, education has always been Kirk's answer to potential burnout. After the marathon 'Black' album tour ended in 1993, he immediately went to the City College of San Francisco where he took classes, something he credits as the reason behind his reinvention as a guitarist on the 'Load' and 'Re-load' albums. Kirk continues to bring not only a dazzling array of lead guitar parts to Metallica's music but also some savage rifferey, having started sharing 6-string duties with James during the 'Load' era. .......Oh, and for the record, Kirk plays his guitar at least 361 days a year. "
Got me thinking. What is genius? Maybe it's not about solving Fermat's last theorem whilst waiting for a pizza, or writing 'The Gift of the Magi' whilst your publishers are waiting downstairs (yes I hear old Henry pulled that one off), or painting the Sistine chapel or even scoring perfect 800s on your SATs. Yes it IS all that.... but a little more. It's about losing yourself in 'your' art, making it a passion that rules you, and no compromises.
Is it very different in business? The most successful practitioners of the art of commerce have been men who have devoted - literally - their lives in some manner of speaking - to the advancement of their chosen field(s). They have lived in it, enriched it, and sometimes changed the rules of the game. They utterly and completely justify the adage: "The most committed win."
So I ask today - How committed am I? I think it's a question we're not so much afraid to answer, as we are afraid to ask. Because, that's one of the fringe handicaps of being human. Born with unlimited potential, the last thing that we want is to discover that we're really good at something, but that something comes at a price: total commitment.
Can you live with that? Consider well the following, before you answer: There is a point of inflexion in every thing that we do,.. be it learning a language or solving a problem or cooking a dish. Human expectation is that the more we practice, the better we get at it. Right? Right. So far so good. But there is a point of inflexion beyond which that improvement tapers off, plateaus and perhaps even declines. 99.9% of people give up at that point. The .1% that persist? - you guessed it.
The most committed win. As a sign-off, check out the latest from Vlad's library of images. Peace!
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