This past weekend I visited with my older brother, Dave.
He’s spent over a decade working in “post-production,” editing many of the popular reality shows on television including American Idol, The Apprentice, The Bachelor Pad, Jockeys, and Whale Wars.
I’ve watched him work on mini-projects for our family or a local non-profit. To be honest, I get bored. While editing, he ends up watching the same clip over and over again as he refines cuts, finds the best b roll, and/or figures out the best sequence of interview clips to tell the story. I’m probably leaving things out here, but basically, he does a lot–and that’s just for our family and non-profits.
Professionally, I can only imagine the hours upon hours he must spend, editing footage down into the images you see on TV. He’s definitely talented.
His work allows his name to be flashed on screen for a fraction of a second at the conclusion of an episode.
That is the extent of his fame.
Hours of work for a few minutes of footage on tv and his name flashed for a fraction of a second.
But I know he loves his work. I know he takes pride in it.
The sad part about a lot of us today is that we want the reverse.
We want to put in a second or two or work and received hours upon hours of recognition.
We want our jobs to be super easy.
We don’t want to ever be bored.
We don’t want to bother with a solid rough draft. We want to turn in our first edition (I’m guilty of this too as demonstrated by the numerous typos in these blogs).
But life requires more.
We need to step up. We need to make sure we utilize some post-production in our own lives, and put our best self forward.
We need that solid work ethic.
We need to be willing to put in hours of work, so that those few moments can be amazing.
Can you do that?