In the gymnasium of one of our local schools, there hangs a sign that says, “Have a dream. Make a plan. Do the work.”

Mozart was a genius. He achieved greatness, not because music effortlessly poured out of him, but because he–perhaps more than any other composer–was willing to “do the work.”

There is a scene in the film, Amadeus, in which Mozart is at a party playing the piano. To entertain the other revelers, he improvises parodies of famous composers’ works. The film implies that even drunk, he could simply do that.

Hogwash. What the film doesn’t show are the years Mozart spent analyzing and learning. In a letter to a friend, Mozart said this:

“People err who think my art comes easily to me. I assure you, dear friend, nobody has devoted so much time and thought to composition as I. There is not a famous master whose music I have not industriously studied through many times.”

Though Mozart was ill all his life–plagued by everything from scarlet fever and smallpox to toothaches, lung infections, and reoccurring bouts of tonsillitis–he didn’t let that stop him from doing the work.

When it comes to talent, there are plenty of Mozart-like people today. A search of the Internet will provide wondrous examples of people who are gifted beyond measure, but who also work hard.

I think of Ethan Bortnick, born in 2000. When he was little, he asked his parents if he could take piano lessons. They said no, he was too young. They had a CD called Baby Einstein that had classical music pieces arranged for young children to listen to. Ethan listened to the CD and thought about the music. Then he used a tiny toy piano to flawlessly play what he’d heard.

“My parents walked into the room and it wasn’t the CD, it was me playing. So they said I could have piano lessons,” Ethan said.

Even though he was not yet able to reach the entire keyboard or the piano’s pedals, it became apparent that Ethan was not just a prodigy, but a genius.

At a very early age, he began to write music. His talent was so enormous, he ended up working with some of the biggest performers in the musical world. In an interview for the website, The Flash List, he was asked if any of those famous people gave him advice he especially appreciated.

Ethan said that many had given him good advice, but if he had to choose one, it would be Quincy Jones. What advice did Jones give?

“. . . he said, ‘If you can dream it, you can be it.'”

Ethan explained that what Jones told him is true, “If you have a goal, you should go for it.”

It’s the ‘going for it’ that divides successful geniuses from unsuccessful ones. (It also divides non-geniuses in a similar fashion, for which I am grateful.)

Have a dream. Make a plan. Do the work. Those words were true in the 1700s and are just as true today.

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