Day 13: 31 Days of Daily Inspiration From Brilliant Women

Very few of us are born geniuses. Even those who are still spend most of their time practicing their God-given talents, concentrating the laser beam of their focus into shaping and perfecting their skills. But the rest of us can forget the importance of practice and concentration.
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Daily Inspiration: Day 13 of 31 Days

"The formula for success is simple: practice and concentration, then more practice and more concentration." -- Babe Didrikson Zaharias (athlete, 1911-56)

Very few of us are born geniuses. Even those who are still spend most of their time practicing their God-given talents, concentrating the laser beam of their focus into shaping and perfecting their skills. But the rest of us -- without that innate spark to spur us on -- can forget the importance of practice and concentration.

At a dinner party last Friday night, a woman asked me if I thought everyone had a book inside them. I told her of my experience years ago of working for the BBC, reading scripts submitted on spec with the hopes of being produced. I was constantly astonished by the covering letters. Most of the submissions were first drafts of first works. These people had spent hardly any time at all shaping and perfecting their skills. Needless to say, none of these early efforts were picked up, but I would encourage these people to write several more scripts and then send us their sixth one. The first draft of Pride and Prejudice, entitled First Impressions, was turned down by the publishers by return of post. A few years later, Jane Austen gave it another go, proving that even geniuses need to practice, and so do we all.

Inspiration From Brilliant Women

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