There is deadline work. One finishes something because it has to be done. One gives his best effort, but the final product is recognized to be a compromise.
There is masterpiece work. One takes his time. One concerns himself only with quality. A man could be standing with a gun demanding the work, and he would not give it up until it was truly finished.
Most work is deadline work. Most people never do masterpiece work. Some masterpiece work can only appreciated by its creator. Some people do not have the wherewithal to finish masterpiece work. Most successful people quickly learn that in the end it is all deadline work.
But the most successful people only know masterpiece work.
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6 comments:
A "masterpiece" is not something that can be "worked" on in the way most things in life are worked on. As a musician I can honestly say I have never had the opportunity to be a part of a masterpiece work. I've been in bands that were firing on all cylinders but that were never able to capture the magic "on tape."
Deadline work is work that I'll only do when getting paid. I guess this is why I view PhD studies and homework as a waste of time. You can't create a masterpiece when you've got deadlines and bullshit to deal with. Do you think that Prince could have created "Purple Rain" if Warner Bros. had handcuffed him creatively (or required him not to look like a homo).
A masterpiece is something that only happens because of circumstances (i.e. luck) and the ability to capitalize on opportunity. At this point in life the only masterpiece I'm likely to create is a physique that doesn't resemble John Candy circa "Wagons East".
ahhh. successful and masterpiece are relative terms.
plus I'd say that almost nothing that the majority of world citizens qualify as actual work would garner masterpiece accolades.
A very wise man once told me that "a leader does things and does not worry about who gets the credit". I'd say these master piecers do worry about it.
In short, I think that Masterpiecers do masterpieces and compromisers do "work".
GGM
I knew this guy, Ben, who was the best bass player I ever heard. He started playing in middle school. By the eighth grade, he started smoking dope, gave up on school, and started playing or thinking about the bass most of the day. He told me he would wake up in the middle of the night dreaming about the bass.
The last time I saw him he was still smoking dope and shacked up with some large girl in a one bedroom shithole apartment. I asked him about the bass. He said he picked up every now and then.
Every now and then I envy Ben. I think he understands something that I will never understand, something I have never attempted to understand.
It is interesting that luck came into the conversation, because I have never been able to decide if Ben was unlucky or untalented or both.
I know this comment is not coherent, and I apologize.
I envy the people I see on the train that realize their lives aren't going to get any better than it is right now. It's easy to let the money drive what you do, perhaps I should join the crowd.
Sometimes compromising isn't that bad of an idea.
I had a conversation the other week in regard to my future plans.
The moral of the conversation was "sometimes it's good to have options available, sometimes its bad to have set plans, sometimes it's bad to have too many options, sometimes its good to have set plans". That statement pretty much sums up my outlook on things.
I'm going to keep on keeping on with the confidence that "I could always be great if I wanted to and I will always have the option to settle". I'll keep on 'gittin it' in the meantime.
GGM
I don't think it is compromising.
I think Ben and the people on the train figured out what was important (sex and a warm place to live) and went after it.
Compromising is lying to one's self.
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