This afternoon, I finished up my first loaf of dutch oven bread and a minestrone from scratch. Besides feeling like a total bamf for making my own bread, it helped fuel my recent obsession with foodie culture. From reading food memoirs to learning how to make a wine sauce certain to please, exploring what it truly means to come to the table has me fixated. It’s been said often, but understanding the basics of any topic is so crucial to building upon that foundation.
The more I explore French cuisine and advanced techniques, the more I learn the importance of the basics – the way you hold a knife, the consistency needed for good baking, the necessity of choosing the best ingredients for the best product. This is what separates the good cook from the great.
A friend was talking to me about how after a teleseminar, she was hired to do a bit of work. It’s not bad work, but it’s not her work. When I pointed out that instead of doing the work for the client, she could easily record it and release as part of her upcoming course, she agreed – and it sounded way more up her style.
When you’ve spent time learning the basics and becomign an expert in your field, there’s a certain point you reach where what you used to do no longer makes sense for you to do now. Yes, you could keep doing what you’re good at. Or you could go deeper. You could do what you will one day be great at.
Where are you holding yourself back? What work do you need to stop doing so you can do the work you love to do? The work that matters?
You can choose greatness. Why choose otherwise?