Shallow or deep is a choice. There are no short cuts. As easy as it has become to acquire nearly everything, there are some things that require a lifetime to accrue. Careers and relationships are the best examples. If the goal is to achieve something meaningful, practice and patience are required.
Ask any writer, public speaker, musician, therapist, athlete, teacher, or surgeon. You don’t get good at something in an hour, a day, a week, a month, or even a year. Clinical social workers often say that it’s at about the fifteen-years-post-masters stage of their careers when they hit their stride. Medical fellowships follow physician residencies for a reason. Established opera singers practice scales, not just arias.
Regardless of the amount of natural talent, most of us would rather read something written by an author who hones their craft daily than a ‘subject matter expert’ who decides to write their first blog or book. Who would you prefer to handle your delicate medical procedure? Who do you send up to bat with the game on the line?
Natural talent is the trap. Why work when you can play? Good enough can pass for excellent if no one is looking or listening too closely. As a consumer of goods and services, we all have the right to water down the depth and quality of what we consume. As a producer of that material, however, you have to own the amount of time and practice you’ve devoted to your creation. For the record, this blog is a one-minute read, but I’ve stopped counting the many years of writing that preceded it.
