Do you know the national anthem of Britain?
Technically it’s something called “God Save The King”. But unofficially it’s Mr. Brightside by The Killers.
The song is so huge in the UK that it has been on the Top Singles Charts for over 520 weeks. It came out in 2004 and is STILL on the charts.
Legend has it that it was also the first song The Killers ever came up with and recorded.
Perhaps you have noticed that the song only has one verse and a chorus repeated twice. That’s because they were so broke that they ran out of studio time before they came up with any additional lyrics.
More than 20 years earlier, a guy named Brian Johnson, already in his early 30’s and working as a car mechanic, got a call to do the seemingly impossible. He was asked by the surviving members of an already popular band called AC/DC to replace their lead singer who had tragically passed away. After getting the gig, the rhythm guitar player asked Johnson if he knew how to write lyrics and handed him a yellow legal pad and a pen.
According to Johnson, all he knew about was cars and the very first thing he wrote was “she was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean” and the remainder of what became AC/DCs biggest hit “You Shook Me All Night Long”.
We love stories like these because they make greatness seem almost effortless. A few hours in a recording studio. A yellow legal pad. A handful of lyrics. And suddenly, you've created something that people will be singing for generations.
But there's something these stories tend to leave out. Everything that happened before those moments.
When it comes to training, many people have personal expectations that mimic those ultra-rare and seemingly ultra-fast musical moments that I mentioned above. That if they just touch a barbell for a few weeks they will achieve the look they have always been after, the strength standards reserved for people who’ve been training for decades or the speed that would place them on the cusp of the Olympic trials.
But that is rarely (RARELY!!) the case. Greatness typically needs a long time to percolate.
If you are a ham-and-egger like me, someone who is willing to work hard with no outlier gifts to speak of, I have good news for you.
There is a masterpiece inside of you.
And while it’s true that the time required to reveal it might limit how far we can take any one skill or goal, the pursuit itself will do something wonderful. It will help you learn more about yourself than any instant level of success ever could. It will also give you the tools of resilience and the ability to persevere through difficult times in order to reach your destination.
The person you become in pursuit of that masterpiece might ultimately be more valuable than the masterpiece itself.
Because while you may never become the strongest, fastest or most talented person in the room, you can become someone who knows how to commit to something difficult and see it through. And that's a skill that will serve you long after you've put down the barbell. Perhaps it’s the greatest skill training could ever develop.
So give yourself a break. Give yourself time. More time than you even think it should take.
There is a masterpiece inside you. You just need the time and effort to chip it out.