I have a saying, plucked from Team America, of all places: "You need a montage." Basically, there's a reason films about a person standing up to triumph over a

I have a saying, plucked from Team America, of all places: "You need a montage." Basically, there's a reason films about a person standing up to triumph over a powerful adversary often compress the most important intervening moments, in which the person acquires their capacity to overcome, into a short segment: because those intervening moments aren't fun, and they aren't entertaining, even if they are ultimately fulfilling. So it's what I say when people talk to me about being frustrated with the difficulty of steps made toward their aspirations: "You need a montage." As in, you're going to have to slog through a bunch of difficult, tedious stuff if you ever hope to overcome the odds against you. But knowing that, and taking it on even so, is what marks so many great achievements.