This morning I interviewed an inspiring guest for my radio show. The Honorable John Wrory Ficklin, author of the new book An Unusual Path: Three Generations From Slavery to the White House, released for Black History Month.
His grandfather was a slave who made a life for himself and his large family after emancipation. One son — John’s father — ended up working at the White House as a butler, and eventually the top position of maître d’.
Young John would help his father in the pantry. And his dad always told him, “Whatever job you have, son, be sure to do the best you can.”
As a high school junior, John was hired to be a White House messenger. He would take correspondence back and forth to Watergate.
Yes, that Watergate. Yes, during that whole Nixon scandal.
Can you imagine being able to say that?
But it didn’t have all that drama and intrigue at the time. It was just delivering letters.
That’s important, sure. Not glamorous, but important.
Same goes for butler and maître d’. They were mostly behind-the-scenes jobs, where blending into the woodwork was a plus.
But John continued working for the White House for the next 40 years, under seven different presidents. His final position was working for Obama as special assistant to the president for National Security Affairs.
And whatever job he had, he did the best he could.
Just like his father taught him.
That advice might sound pretty basic, but only if you’ve never watched what it turns into.
The man behind the curtain is powerful — even when he’s just pretending to be a wizard.
So’s the unseen writer behind the page.
Most defining habits form when nobody’s watching. Nobody’s applauding, there’s no spotlight, and you’re not getting praised heaped all over you.
But when you practice excellence in private, eventually the whole world notices.
You rise in life because your standards don’t change when the spotlight does. You do your best work whether anyone’s watching or not (they might actually be watching when you don’t think they are, too).
I’m sure you didn’t wait for that big, breakthrough client or book deal before you started pouring your heart and soul into your writing. You started because you loved it, and eventually you got good enough that someone paid you for it.
That’s why it takes 10 years (or 40) to become an overnight success.
Eventually, when you write enough day in and day out, it becomes automatic. Then it becomes a superpower.
Your Writing Personality Type reveals how you naturally practice excellence — and where you cut corners.
And the Writing Personality UnVALEd Playbook dives more deeply into the nuances of your primary type.
As well as those secondary types quietly working behind the scenes.
But every Writing Personality Type can use this principle to their advantage, once they learn how to leverage it — and the quirks of their type.
And always pay attention to the man behind the curtain.
Write on,
Heather Vale
Helping you UnVALE your superpowers and navigate the Writerverse
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