The Man Behind the Curtain

A very popular blogger Penelope Trunk recently sparked controversy resulting in several video interviews. I watched one of them more out of curiosity of seeing how she talked and acted. I left feeling that she was more ordinary then I would have imagined.

Likewise the owners of the simple dollar, zen habits, and get rich slowly come off as ordinary and in some cases slightly nerdy. Whenever you see them live or see pictures the façade of a superhuman like individual disappears. I was thinking about this and what it truly means. Why do we put athletes, movie stars, and in my case blog writers on these pedestals. Part of the reason for me is because I don’t want to believe that I am capable of what they do. I can say “Well I could never do that,” and so I don’t. If I convince myself that greatness is something that I wasn’t gifted with then I can’t hold myself accountable to that standard. The truth is that a focused pursuit of a passion is what leads to success. In all cases of success the story is essentially the same. X person pursues something they are passionate about and success is a result of their hard work. That’s the key to it all. Mastering your craft and practice.

I want to again feature and write about my friend Yossi’s blog In Love With Baking. In reading it you think about all the work she puts into her craft. She experiments and creates for friends and family at essentially no costs. As I follow along I notice how her projects are becoming more and more beautiful. I always try to convince her to attend cooking school and learn even more difficult techniques, but truthfully she is achieving success right now. Her practice is really a pleasure. She loves it.

Do what you love, because when you love something you will put in the time to become great at it. Those who are successful in their fields are at the top because they do something they are passionate about. As some of my friends like to say, “there’s nothing to it, but to do it.”