“The mundane takes you to the mystical.” -Steven Pressfield
Too many people think that radical change happens from some large event, whether it is a cancer scare or a motivational speaker. And those indeed might be a catalyst, but you are not magically transformed in that moment into a new you, just like turning the calendar page or starting a new position at work does not instantly make you into a better version of yourself.
It is the little things, the microdecisions compounding over weeks and months and years that evolve a scrawny asthmatic kid into a martial arts champion or develop the introverted freshman into the dynamic and confident leader. These are slow, almost imperceptible yet unstoppable alterations like a river carving out the Grand Canyon and produce as beautiful an outcome.
The musician that practices daily, moving from scales that sound like they are scaling a Komodo dragon to etudes and eventually summoning divine music that enraptures.
The artist, starting with scratches on a page and doodles that eventually become stunning special effects in movies or sculptures that inspire.
The burnt egg that eventually leads to crème Brulé.
There is no 1980’s era training montage that is going to transform you in four minutes of music, but the grind of doing the work and loving the little moments of effort and improvement that build up into the exceptional outcomes. The layering day after day of tiny enhancements, the small revisions that are unnoticeable alone but when aggregated create immensely beautiful outputs.
From the outside, the work is a marvel. From The David to The Ninth Symphony to the ninth inning those on the outside admire the seemingly divinely inspired, not knowing the devil was in the details and the days for decades, but that is also where the greatest love of the creation lies. For the excellence hides in the unexceptional.