By Steve Martin
Be so good they can't ignore you.
— Steve Martin
In this interview with Charlie Rose, Steve Martin explains that many people who ask him for advice are looking for a shortcut, or silver bullet:
Nobody ever takes note of it because it’s not the answer they want to hear. What they want to hear is “here’s how you get an agent” or “here’s how to write a script”. But I always say “Be so good they can’t ignore you”. If somebody is thinking “How can I be really good” people are going to come to you. It’s much easier doing it that way than going to cocktail parties.
So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love, by Cal Newport.