"The Confidence of amateurs..."

"The Confidence of amateurs is the envy of professionals"

A recent viewing of the classic film "It's a Wonderful Life" triggered both tears (every time) and an even deeper respect for every creative mind associated with the project. I mentioned it on my Facebook page, and a gentleman suggested that the creation of such a film is "easy"--just "follow the template created by Dickens" and voila! Instant classic, fame and fortune.

Of course, I'm willing to bet that the person who said this has never published a single thing. His comment is like a couch potato saying "winning the Heavyweight championship is easy: just hit the other guy and don't get hit." Or "winning the Indy 500 is easy...just don't crash, and cross the finish line first."

Yeah, right. No. Being the best, in any field, is a matter of faith, endless work, raw ability combined with ruthless discipline, and a sublime transcendence of "ordinary" mind, the kind of transcendence that one can only achieve by mastering all of the individual, component pieces of the puzzle, and raising them to the level of unconscious competence. There is no other way.

And that path can guarantee improvement, but not superlative performance and public acclaim--that is sort of like getting struck by lightning as you cross the finish line of the Boston Marathon. But your chances increase drastically if you commit to life-long improvement of your skills...and yourself.

Don't be scared. Throw off your confidence and step into the realm of the proficient, if not the professional. Master your life!

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