According to Greek mythology, as a punishment for his trickery, the god Zeus ordered King Sisyphus to roll a huge boulder up a steep hill. Before he could reach the top, however, the massive stone would always roll back down, forcing Sisyphus to begin again and again, for eternity. However as the tale goes, Sisyphus was very content with his destiny because at every punishing push, at every sweaty shove, and at every steely step forward, the desire to succeed and the anticipation of victory made him stronger, and gave him hope to carry on.
Once the show is over, the product has shipped, the website launched, the record released or the book is published, the customer returns home to enjoy the rewards of her new purchase, and the fans leave the stadium with gratification and exhilaration. But the pro artist and the committed entrepreneur will return the next day to the studio, the workshop, the warehouse or the office and start the process all over again, pushing the giant stone up the mountain.
Important because this is the true joy for any artist or entrepreneur: to be given the opportunity to wake up the next day into a crazy, uncertain, creative lifestyle and shove that giant boulder up the hill; doing your best work, thrilling your fans, inspiring your clients and “wowing” your customers—day after day.
Rewritten from a blog I wrote in 2013.