The longer I work at whatever this thing is that I’m working at, the more I am learning that it is truly in the work that something enduring comes into existence. There are no shortage of resources, gurus, and “experts” out there to tell you what you supposedly don’t know, but my experience tells me that your own heart and mind knows most if not all of what it needs to know.

A favorite blog I like to frequent is one called Zen Habits. A recent post spoke to this idea – that by doing the work, your work can only get better. The difference then becomes learning how to make the most of the work, i.e. working smarter, not harder. Or maybe both smarter and harder. Here is a great excerpt:

“There’s only one way to become good at something:

1. First, you must learn it by reading or listening to others who know how to do it, but most especially by doing.
2. Then do some more. At this point, you’ll start to understand it, but you’ll suck. This stage could take months.
3. Do some more. After a couple of years, you’ll get good at it.
4. Do some more. If you learn from mistakes, and aren’t afraid to make mistakes in the first place, you’ll go from good to great.

It takes anywhere from 6-10 years to get great at something, depending on how often and how much you do it. Some estimate that it takes 10,000 hours to master something, but I think it varies from person to person and depends on the skill and other factors.”