Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy, aka Practice!

The professional performers/artists we usually get to see, and judge, as an audience out and about, the spectator/viewer in us usually is in awe when we see a performance, and/or at times being critical, either verbally or through our actions, expressing our opinion(s) on the performance (and at times, unfortunately, on the performer) -- be it a sportsperson, a theatrical performer, a stand-up actor, a musician, a trapeze artist et al.

However, many a times to the observer’s eyes, and mind, the performance appears to be a breeze, not realizing that it is the performer/artist who is responsible for making it appear so simple for their audience.

While the act appears to the audience as “Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy”, yet, if the audience attempts to re-create that magical performance by themselves, at times even under adult supervision, they might end up with quite an opposite experience, i.e., “Stressed Depressed Lemon Zest”.

What we, the audience, usually do not think and/or realize that the performer has invested several hours, at times even beyond thousands, to be able to reach that stage in their life that what/how they do their stuff (read magic) appears as easy as a knife cutting through a cheesecake to the viewer – they have practiced it so much that their mind doesn’t even have to think about what to do next, and they are able to act in the middle of any situation organically within a split second.

In his book, Outliers, Mr. Malcolm Gladwell mentions a scientific study behind the success of all the super performers, and it highlights the magic number of hours which when put into one’s area of expertise make you do your stuff like using a magic wand – the number is 10,000 Hours (~ 417 days or 59.52 weeks or 13.68 months or 1.14 years).

Take a pause and think about it, while 1.14 year might just look a tiny number, imagine someone continuously practicing their craft with 100% focus with zero breaks – now insert the unavoidable (but still thinkable) into that equation - that unavoidable, dare I say out loud, is ‘Life’.

Now, attempt to estimate how many days/weeks/months/years/decades/generations it might take for one to be a master of their craft…I put generations because there may be certain crafts/experiments which need passing of the baton to the next generation to continue the quest. Therefore, if one aspires to reach the Everest of their personal goal, one ought to be persistent.

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Nothing can take the place of persistence.

Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.

Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

- CALVIN COOLIDGE

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I will now transition towards other skills/areas, beginning with a student, and then, heart specialist, criminal lawyer, IT Subject Matter Expert, a chef, CEO of an organization, leader of a nation et al.

For these professions, practice sessions are built on / backed by the several hours, days, weeks, months, years, and decades of practice and experience each one of YOU brings to the table. Practice enough to not just us make subject experts, but also to elevate our intuition and gut feeling to be strong enough to foresee what’s coming.

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On that note, I wish yourselves the very best for all the endeavors you take up, at school, in college, in playground, at home or at work – may you be blessed with wisdom to pursue your Karma, feeding more power into the grit within each one of us, our will & desire to do anything and everything we do to the best of our ability.

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Cheers!

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For your consumption, few of the many #MasterPiece performances/works/stats of #Maestros:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo, Footballer – Portugal - https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/22774/cristiano-ronaldo
2. Sir Vivian Richards, Cricketer – West Indies - https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/viv-richards-52812
3. Virat Kohli, Cricketer - India - https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/virat-kohli-253802
4. Usain St. Leo Bolt, Sprinter – Jamaica - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usain_Bolt
5. SuperBowl History https://www.espn.com/nfl/history/leaders
6. Mary Curie, Physicist and chemist — Polish-French - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie,
7. Mother Teresa, Nun – Albanian Indian – worth mentioning, skill she practiced - ‘Compassion, Kindness, Empathy, Love’ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa
8. Nelson Mandela, Activist/Politician - South Africa – he spent 27 years in jail time over several years; the causes he took during his lifetime, I believe, were drawn from his several years of injustice/experiences he faced in order to eventually transform into the leader he turned out to be – South Africa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela
9. And last, but not the least, Late Ustad Zakir Hussain Ji, Tabla Player and Composer, India - https://www.instagram.com/share/BAXBWIP8SO

And the list of the #Maestros goes on...to infinity, and beyond.

#ConsistentSincereHardWork

#Outliers

#Magic