SINGLEMINDEDNESS
(see also FOCUS)

Consider the postage stamp: Its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there.

Josh Billings.

When I was a boy, my father, a baker, introduced me to the wonders of song, tenor Luciano Pavarotti relates. He urged me to work very hard to develop my voice. Arrigo Pola, a professional tenor in my hometown of Modena, Italy, took me as a pupil. I also enrolled in a teachers college. On graduating, I asked my father, "Shall I be a teacher or a singer?" "Luciano," my father replied, "if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair." I chose one. It took seven years of study and frustration before I made my first professional appearance. It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan Opera. And now I think whether it's laying bricks, writing a book--whatever we choose--we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that's the key. Choose one chair.

Guideposts.