(Image courtesy of John Oswald)
We’ve all heard the phrase, “genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration,” but how many of us truly understand what that means? In a world where we celebrate instant success and breakthrough moments, the hard truth is that the best ideas rarely come in a flash of brilliance. Instead, they emerge from the grind—the repeated effort to create something, anything, until that one exceptional idea rises to the surface. Inspiration often hides behind layers of mediocrity, only revealing itself once we’ve pushed through the clutter of the ordinary.
The Roadblock of the First Draft
Take, for example, a well-known story from author John Steinbeck. When working on his Nobel Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck admitted that his first draft was, in his own words, “terrible.” The characters felt flat, the plot meandered, and the dialogue lacked spark. He wrote 25 pages in one sitting, only to read them the next day with a sense of defeat. But instead of crumbling under that disappointment, Steinbeck pushed forward. He rewrote, revised, and refined his pages over and over. It was only after multiple drafts that he found the voice, depth, and urgency that would define his masterpiece.
Steinbeck’s struggle reminds us that the first attempt is often an exercise in clearing out the clutter of average ideas. It’s like sifting through rocks before you find gold—no one strikes gold on their first pan. But too often, we give up after that first round of mediocrity, assuming brilliance is simply beyond our grasp. What we fail to realize is that inspiration lives just a few layers deeper, waiting for us to dig past the surface.
The Hidden Power of Repetition
Consider another example from the world of design: James Dyson. The man behind the revolutionary Dyson vacuum cleaner didn’t create his first successful model overnight. In fact, he built 5,127 prototypes before he arrived at the design that would disrupt the entire vacuum industry. Dyson didn’t sit around waiting for a “Eureka!” moment to strike. Instead, he worked and reworked, knowing full well that the path to brilliance was paved with failures. It wasn’t until after he had pushed through thousands of flawed designs that he found the one that worked.
The brilliance of Dyson’s design didn’t lie in a sudden flash of inspiration. It emerged after the thousands of mistakes and discarded ideas had cleared the way for something new and different. His story highlights a crucial truth: every failed attempt is not a waste, but a necessary step in the process of discovering something great.
Why the 25th Attempt Matters
The idea that inspiration comes after persistence is more than just a motivational cliché; it’s a fundamental part of the creative process. Each attempt, no matter how flawed, teaches us something—what doesn’t work, what feels forced, what lacks authenticity. We refine our craft by identifying and eliminating these dead ends.
For those who want to create something truly exceptional, the lesson is clear: you cannot wait for a single brilliant idea to strike. You must first create a multitude of average ones. It’s in the process of creating those “average” pieces that we learn, grow, and discover the threads of something extraordinary.
Inspiration, in this sense, isn’t a divine gift bestowed upon the chosen few. It’s a well-earned reward for those who are willing to put in the work, endure the failures, and push beyond the point where others would stop. So, next time you sit down to write, paint, build, or dream, don’t wait for perfection. Start with the average, the imperfect, the mundane. By the time you reach your 25th attempt, you might just find the brilliance you’ve been searching for all along.
Bob Fagan has just published “The Little Book of Questions That Matter — A Lifetime Companion For Transforming Your Life.” It is available on Amazon.
