Steve Martin and I have a few things in common.
But for the purposes of this blog post, banjo.
I played the banjo for a spell. Using the term played pretty loosely here.
But I picked it up after growing fairly comfortable playing guitar; seemed like a natural progression to 16 year old me.
But eventually, I just stopped for whatever reason.
Maybe I found other interests. Maybe it wasn’t as easy as I thought. Or maybe, and this is a big MAYBE, I realized that female attraction to guitar players did not extend to banjo.
Sticking With It
Then there’s Steve Martin.
Nearly 20 years ago, he said:
I thought, if I stayed with it, then one day I will have been playing for forty years, and anyone who sticks with something for forty years will be pretty good at it.
That’s the difference.
He was able to forecast, 40 years out, being pretty good at the banjo. He looked past all the bad practices and calloused fingertips. He didn’t start out with any genetic advantage. He didn’t even credit practicing harder, taking any special lessons, or buying a fancy banjo.
He just stuck with it for forty years and due to sticking with it, he was successful.
Now replace banjo with literally anything having to do with your health and fitness.
Jesse
