I was working with one of my piano students who is quite talented and has excellent listening skills. He played through one of his songs, but on this day he was making several errors. At the end of the song I asked him how much he had practiced during the past week. He looked at me quite seriously and said, “I must admit it. I only played this song, maybe once or twice.”
I am NOT a music teacher who believes in yelling or scolding children. Instead I told him that even though he had not practiced enough, he was actually able to play the song rather well, in spite of his errors. Then I asked him if he could imagine just how fabulous he would have been at playing the song if he had practiced every single day. He thought about it for a moment and admitted he would have been awesome if he had really worked on it.
Then his Mom, who was sitting on my couch, piped up and said, “I heard the greatest statement the other day. I have to share it with you.” Here is the statement:
HARD WORK BEATS TALENT WHEN TALENT DOESN’T WORK HARD!
I was very impressed by that comment and so was her son. He looked at me and said, “That’s it! I know I have talent and from now on I give you my word, I am going to work hard!”
I thanked his Mom for sharing those fabulous words of wisdom and I wanted to share it with the world! Here’s to a great new school year–and to working hard!
As for that quote, it is now taped to my kitchen cupboard where I see it every single day. It inspires me.
Fern