There is likely a pretty big difference between you and Mozart.
He lived in the 18th century. You don’t. He had just a killer middle name. Yours is maybe more pedestrian. He had a pet canary and starling. Probably not many multiple bird owners reading this now.
Mozart also is considered at the top all-time of his field, that being music. You (and I) are likely not. At least yet. But maybe ever.
While these differences seem pretty glaring, I don’t think any of them represent the biggest, and most important, difference between you and Mozart. Not even the middle name or sickly habitus…
But let’s start somewhere else
Instead of comparing you and Mozart, let’s compare Mozart with an average musical colleague and contemporary of his. Let’s call him Joe.
If we look back at Mozart and Joe from today’s lens, there seems to be a huge difference. Mozart is Mozart. He is one of the best composers ever. He has a ton of what are now and were then considered masterpieces. And Joe is, well Joe. He’s average. Maybe some good pieces that he composed. But he is not a master.
Is this difference due to skill? Natural born talent? Work ethic? Better instruments or teaching or coaching?
Maybe, but probably not.
In fact, the biggest difference between Mozart and Joe (and you and me) is that Mozart composed more pieces.
As pointed out by Adam Grant, Mozart composed over 600 pieces in his short life. That’s way, way more than the average composer back then or now. But that piece of information doesn’t complete the puzzle. The real kicker is that the “hit rate,” or percent of compositions that became “masterpieces,” is similar between Mozart and other composers…namely Joe.
Mozart just ended up with a lot more “hits” because he composed a lot more pieces!
What does this mean for you?
This means that a man that is synonymous with musical genius may be that way mores because he tried more and put more out there than any inherent skill or predilection.
And that’s a pretty powerful, and even jarring, thing to assert. So much so that Adam Grant has taken some heat for it.
And while we can never scientifically prove this, it kind of makes sense.
And if we take a step back we see it a lot in life. Look at someone who goes “viral” on social media. Chances are that person has posted a lot more than the average person who posts one thing and is mad when it doesn’t hit.
Even look at this blog. The fact that you chose to read this out of everything that is the cacophony of the internet is a minor miracle. But it seems like less of a miracle once you consider that I’ve written now several hundreds of these posts.
This is actually good news!
Too often we think that we could never achieve something because we just aren’t skilled for lucky enough. It’s out of our hands.
But that is not really the case!
As any successful person will tell you, you need to put yourself out there to be successful. And you will fail so many times. Like an insane amount of times. But the more you put yourself out there, into the arena, the more likely you are to succeed. The more likely you are to create your own masterpiece.
So get out there! Now! Like today!
Find what you are passionate about and pursue it unapologetically. The more you do, the more successful you will be!
Meanwhile, if you just want to fun and actionable steps to create financial freedom, here you go!
- Physician Side Gigs to Make You Passive Money
- Debunking the Myth of the Doctor Car!
- At What Interest Rate Should You Invest Instead of Paying Off Debt?
What do you think? Do we create our own success? Is Mozart that different from you and me? Let me know in the comments below!
