Want to get good at something? Do you have ‘Sitzfleisch’?

am a restless soul. To put it another way, I am an active person. I need to keep doing something. Hmmm, ok, I admit, I get distracted easily! It’s genetic, I believe. I remember my mother telling me, “I wish I could sit in one place for hours and work.”

Sitting in one place and staying put until work gets done has been touted as a virtue by ‘grown-up people’ all through my childhood. I had always looked at it with a healthy dose of scepticism. That’s for people who are not fast. Those people must not be very active and multi-talented people like me, my mind would tell myself.

I never thought about it too much, until I came across a German word that is dedicated to the matter. That’s right, they have an entire word for the ability to sit and work in one place for a long time.

I loved it instantly. It literally means to sit on your buttocks until you get the job done! Nowadays we are constantly looking for shortcuts and easy ways. We have lost the ability to endure the boredom and pain that comes with almost any job.

Public speaking? You got sitzfleisch?

Learning the guitar? You got sitzfleisch?

Taking part in a play? You got sitzfleisch?

Want to learn coding? You got sitzfleisch?

Want to get good at chess? You got sitzfleisch?

Most of us don’t want to put in hours of work into anything, even when the work excites us. But, those who create results, just say ‘Sitzfleisch!’, and get straight back to work!”

Albert Einstein said, “It’s not that I am so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

Getting good at anything requires some brains and lots of butt!

“Sitzfleisch”. I’m getting back to writing one more piece!