From my teenage years onward, I always wondered if a persons work ethic is genetic or learned behaviour. You can see two siblings with totally different work ethics, yet they grown up in the same household and were modeled the same behaviour by their parent/parents.
As I have gotten older and hopefully wiser, I have come to realize that work ethic is a combination of genetics, learned behaviour, and the fear of the unknown.
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My father, Bernie Reuben, had a relentless work ethic. He was a child prodigy in music who started playing the Saxophone and thirteen years old and was playing professionally by thirteen and a half. He became a master of the Saxophone, Clarinet, and Flute by his late teens. Dad broke down barriers in music and society and was the first white member of a black jazz combo in the early 1950's in New York City.
Dad took very ill at age 44 and this turned his work ethic from intense to manic. He was a music supervisor at a Toronto School Board by day. Then he would come home, changes his clothes and go do a gig at night either with his own band or one of the many bookings he was requested to be at.
Weekends Dad taught his private students during the day and then did gigs at night. The odd weekend that he did not have a gig Dad repaired instruments for a leading Canadian musical instrument retailer. He was there first hire in 1956, as he was an expert music repair technician.
Dad's favourite time of the year was the last two weeks in August when he took the family up to Northern Ontario to a music camp and taught music to underprivileged teenagers, soom of whom became professional musicians.
The few nights a week that dad did not have a gig he spend two hours practicing the Saxophone, Clarinet or Flute. It never seemed like work to him and he did it because he wanted to, not because he had to. My father got his genetic and learned work ethic from his father. and the fear of the unknown came from the illness that was slowly breaking down his body.
Unfortunately, my father passed away at age 50 after this long illness. His funeral was attended by all past students and every Toronto musician that he crossed paths with during his life. Every person not only commented on his extraordinary talent, but also his unwavering work ethic.
My father was an eccentric man who did not see the quirks in his personality. Dad believed in his talent and values and did not take shit from anyone. He was very shy man in his non- musical life , but when it came to his craft he had stubborn believe in himself.
And Dad's stubbornness came out in strange ways. I played the Saxophone and Clarinet as a teenager and young adult. Unfortunately, I do not have his god given talent in music. He worked long hours with me trying to get me to his level and refused to believe that I could never achieve his level of success. He was proud that I had success my other passions, but it broke his heart I could not be as talented as him in music.
And I was not the only one he pushed in music. I have a cousin who is a gifted flautist and when she came to visit in the summers Dad pushed her to reach her potential which was very close to his level of talent. After a twelve hour car ride to Toronto, Dad insisted that she get ready for a music lesson that evening and worked with her for hours during the visit.
I learned from an early age that having a strong work ethic is important to achieve your goals in life. I believe my work ethic is a combination genetics, learned behaviour, and not fearing the unknown. Everything I have done in my life is based on trying the unknown, because you cannot succeed it you do not try.
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