Success of any type does not happen overnight. I have heard that to be successful in Nashville, as a songwriter, it will take about seven years. Oh sure, there are a few lucky ones that come to Nashville and hit home runs on their first at bat at the plate. The thing to think about is what were they doing before they came to Nashville? They were probably the girl who practiced her guitar for hours and hours after school, or the guy who started his own band at fifteen and has been playing every weekend up till he turned twenty- one and moved to Nashville
Success is hard work. My grandson is a basketball player at Rossville High School. Aiden is a good basketball player who got to play varsity as a freshmen last year. I was more excited about this than he was. Last years team struggled to win games. Every team we played used a full court press on us. It worked. We threw the ball out of bounds, double dribbled, took longer than ten seconds to get to mid court, and passed the ball to the opposing team so they could score. It was ugly to watch and I know it was frustrating for the team.
This year is a different story. Our team has practiced and now we attack the full court pressure. We are breaking the press and getting easy baskets. Guess what? Everybody has quit trying to use the full court press on us. Instead of being a weakness, it is now a strength. It took a lot of practice and hard work to turn from failure to success.
I am reading a book called Grit to Great. It had a great story in it. The University of Florida did a study and found out that to master a skill at the highest level takes a minimum of ten years. This ten years would need the right kind of focus. Learning to break a full court press would be part of that process and then you would go on to other aspects of the game. Like defense, rebounding, boxing out, inbound plays, and the list goes on and on.
Pablo Casals is a world-renowned cellist. He is generally regarded as the greatest cellist of all time. He was asked at the age of ninety-three, Why he practiced three hours a day? I love his response. He said, " I'm beginning to show some improvement." He was continuing to invest his time to get better at his craft. He had another quote that I like. The most perfect technique is that which it not noticed at all. This is breaking the full court press and making it look easy. It is three passes and a layup.
My hope for you is that you spend the time to master your craft. It doesn't matter what it is. It could be writing a song, or making chocolate cake. I love chocolate cake. It takes time and practice to master it. Keep practicing, it will be worth it.