Ira Glass--Do a lot of work

I loved this inspiring post on Ali Edwards' blog yesterday, with this very short video from Ira Glass--On the Creative Process:



Honestly this covers more than just those in the creative process. It really applies to anyone who wants to do something, whether writing or creating, playing a sport, or taking on something new. He confirms that for everyone, there is going to be a "gap" where you know where you want to be but what you're putting out or creating isn't up to that level and you recognize it and get discouraged by it. But he implores us to just keep on, "do a lot of work". He reminds us that everyone goes through this "gap" and by doing a high volume of work, the work you produce will catch up to your ambitions.

This reminds me of the "10,000 hour rule" illuminated in Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, where greatness in anything, whether it's computers or music, comes from an enormous amount of time spent on it--roughly 10,000 hours. Or that famous joke, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" Practice, practice, practice. Or like Nike famously simply said, Just Do It.

But for those us that aren't necessarily trying to be the next Bill Gates, professional violinist, or Olympic athlete, sometimes we need a reminder or encouragement to keep on trying, just to reach a level where we can envision ourselves.  As Ira Glass advises, "It's normal to take a while and you just have to fight your way through that, okay?"

Okay, Ira, I'm in.