Creative professionals show up and do the work no matter what. They don’t do it because they expect any recognition. They do it because it’s their job. A responsibility that must be fulfilled. If they don’t do it, no one else will.
The leap from amateur to professional means giving up any expectation that you’ll get something in return for a job well done. Stop anticipating recognition. You can’t influence how other people will receive your work. It’s impossible to know what’s going to resonate.
So while amateurs concern themselves with what people might think, a professional knows that it’s foolish to waste energy on such trivial matters outside of their control. A pro remains focused on doing their work day-in and day-out. Let the rest take care of itself.
Joe Rogan often talks about the early days of his podcast. Ten years ago, he decided to get together with some of his friends and start recording their three hour long conversations. Sometimes they would get high. Often they would say outrageous shit. But Joe never worried about what an audience would care to listen to. He just followed his muse and hit record again and again.
Flash forward 1,500 conversations later and Joe’s humble podcast has grown into a multi-million dollar business. He put in the work for over a decade and it paid off in a major way. Did he ever imagine that it would? Not a chance. He’s said so many times on the podcast before. He got lucky.
Should others who put in the work expect to achieve the same level of success? Of course not. No matter what we do, success is never guaranteed.
The only guarantee is failure for those who don’t show up consistently to do the work.
The amateur plays for fun. The professional plays for keeps. To the amateur, the game is his avocation. To the pro it’s his vocation. The amateur plays part-time, the professional full-time. The amateur is a weekend warrior. The professional is there seven days a week.
Steven Pressfield
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