Yesterday, I posted about the tortoise and the hare in connection with bar exam study and success. (http://www.passlaw.com/taking-the-july-2016-bar-exam-think-tortoise-and-hare/). Today, thinking about how that bar exam advice applies in so many other places. Here are just a few:
-Mastering a sport, or an artistic talent. Sure, natural ability helps. But ask any determined, successful athlete or actor just how many times he or she made a mistake, got back up, and built their success, slowly and steadily, and you will find that nature was greatly assisted with practice. This Michael Jordan quote comes to mind, “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
-Getting into a good college. This is a process –slow and steady. For many people, it involves years of building a background worthy of being accepted into a great university: years of studying for classes and pursuing good grades; years of participating in (and serving as a leader in) student groups; months if not years of studying for admissions tests; weeks if not more of working to write effective entrance essays and complete complex applications.
-Building a Successful Professional Identity. This does not happen the day you get your first job, or the day you become a college graduate or a lawyer. This involves years of proving oneself, showing colleagues by coming through day in and day out successfully, proving that you are reliable and smart, networking, publishing, speaking or otherwise publicly demonstrating your skills or ideas, and much more.
-Raising children. This is surely a slow and steady endeavor, with a need to be there, every day –strong and consistent, to provide, nurture, and support.
There is no shortcut for most great things in life. Pete Seeger’s Maple Syrup Song perhaps sums it up best: “Everything worthwhile takes a little time….”
Sara J. Berman 