#124 repeat

One more comment from Alton Brown's lecture.  After he gave his speech full of humor and cooking tips and ways for collegians to eat well with little cash (ie: crash a potluck, learn to appreciate art and go to openings for the free food, Dumpster diving at fine restaurants, etc.), he offered a serious bonus nugget guaranteed to ensure the students' success.  His advice:  "Read, Research, Write, Repeat."

It sounds a lot like the advice I received from my doctoral advisor.  In addition to the above, his mantra was:  "Butt to Seat."  Dr. Andes believed that everyone who got into graduate school was smart enough to get out of it; the only distinguishing factor between those who left with "initials after their name" was the degree to which they applied his advice.  If you applied the discipline to actually sit at the computer or microfiche machine in the library (hey, I'm old!), then you would plod along and eventually write that dissertation.

So much of success is grunt work, and not the sexy stuff.  It revolves around that key word "repeat".  The discipline of putting one foot after another, over and over and over again, until you are conditioned enough to run that marathon.  Writing one word after another, until you are on Blog #124 and then #1124. Traveling to one state capitol then two then three until you have seen all 50.  Someone once said:  "The key to excellence is consistency.  It is doing what you do well over and over again."  

Life is like shampoo instructions.  You lather up the good bubbles, you rinse out the bad stuff and you repeat it again tomorrow.  Have the discipline to stay on task for the important things -- and repeat.

-- beth triplett
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