If there\u2019s one type of person we admire, it\u2019s the person who\u2019s able to get things done without even trying.<\/p>\n
You know that person. He\u2019s the student who aces the final exam \u201cwithout even studying\u201d. She\u2019s the Instagram model who woke up with perfect hair. And both of them are in great shape by \u201cjust eating right\u201d.<\/p>\n
Statements like these may annoy us. But at the same time, we can\u2019t help admiring or envying people who have things come to them easy.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s difficult to explain why we feel this way. The philosopher Nietzsche observed that our vanity and self-love promotes the culture of the genius. \u201cFor if we think of genius as something magical\u201d, he wrote, \u201cwe are not obliged to compare ourselves and find ourselves lacking.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is why we enjoy watching talent shows and athletic competitions at the highest level. There is a mystique that surrounds these top performers. We marvel at how they are able to do things that no one can.<\/p>\n
Reality is a little different. But first, a story from the fifteenth century.<\/p>\n
Courtiers in medieval times had difficult jobs. They had to keep the support and favour of the ruler in order to remain relevant. To do so, they had to be skilled not just in arms and athletics, but also in music and dance.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s obvious then that they had to train relentlessly to attain proficiency in so many fields. But in an environment which valued entertainment and intrigue above all else, it was important that courtiers not be seen exerting conscious effort into the deeds they performed. This added value to their performances and allowed them to keep the favour of their patrons.<\/p>\n
The Italian courtier Baldassare Castiglione thought that this quality \u2014 the ability to display a certain nonchalance \u2014 was the hallmark of the ideal courtier. The idea was to make every movement and statement appear to be effortless and without thought. He called this\u00a0sprezzatura.<\/em><\/p>\n Centuries after Castiglione coined this term, we still see this, not in a court or formal setting, but in everyday interactions. The deception continues to work.<\/p>\n The trained observer sees sprezzatura as a sign that the individual has put in the work. The individual has attained such a level of mastery that he is able to conceal his movements and make difficult things look easy.<\/mark><\/p>\n But to the untrained eye, the performer is simply talented. His acts are one of genius. What he sees tells him, in Nietzsche\u2019s words, that \u201chere there is no need to compete\u201d.<\/p>\n Both people are watching the same display. But each walks away with a different interpretation.<\/p>\n Actor and comedian Martin Short has frequently been thought of as one of the best talk-show guests. He brings not just his charm, but amazing stories to tell at every event. You\u2019d think that he\u2019s a natural.<\/p>\n But here\u2019s what he tells us about his preparation:<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I do for a typical talk-show appearance, and I\u2019m not exaggerating, is I\u2019ll send in something like 18 pages ahead of time [\u2026] I\u2019ll probably be on the phone with the segment producer for at least an hour-and-a-half going through ideas for material. Then you have to balance all that during the appearance by making it look improvised in the moment, not speaking too much, trying to find common ground with the host.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The result is what Short calls\u00a0\u201c<\/em>an impersonation of myself being relaxed\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019ve seen this play out in my personal experience. You meet some of the most eloquent and charming people in law school, and as a result, you instinctively think that they are naturally gifted at speaking and advocacy. But what I learnt was a different story.<\/p>\n Each of these individuals had years of practice. They participated in debates, public speaking, and Model United Nations conferences. Sure, speaking probably came easier to them than most others. After all, it\u2019s the only way in which they had managed to rack up so many accolades at such a young age.<\/p>\n Yet when you hear how much they\u2019ve been through, you\u2019d hardly consider this to be sheer talent. There\u2019s plenty of hard work at play as well.<\/p>\n We just don\u2019t see it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If there\u2019s one type of person we admire, it\u2019s the person who\u2019s able to get things done without even trying. You know that person. He\u2019s the student who aces the final exam \u201cwithout even studying\u201d. She\u2019s the Instagram model who woke up with perfect hair. And both of them are in great shape by \u201cjust eating right\u201d. Statements like these […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[169],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-design-thinking"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/demo.moralthemes.com\/lawman-pro-portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/61\/2020\/08\/s-o-c-i-a-l-c-u-t-OjnmCKmzr3A-unsplash.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.moralthemes.com\/lawman-pro-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2114"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.moralthemes.com\/lawman-pro-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.moralthemes.com\/lawman-pro-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.moralthemes.com\/lawman-pro-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.moralthemes.com\/lawman-pro-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2114"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/demo.moralthemes.com\/lawman-pro-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2115,"href":"https:\/\/demo.moralthemes.com\/lawman-pro-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2114\/revisions\/2115"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.moralthemes.com\/lawman-pro-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.moralthemes.com\/lawman-pro-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.moralthemes.com\/lawman-pro-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.moralthemes.com\/lawman-pro-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Work Behind The Scenes<\/h1>\n
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