What makes this observation distinct is Van Gogh's implicit rejection of the romantic myth that genius arrives in flashes—he's describing instead the actual texture of creation, where mastery lives in the unglamorous accumulation of small decisions. A painter doesn't suddenly produce a masterpiece; he mixes that particular blue ten thousand times, learns how light breaks differently at different hours, fails at composition until his eye corrects itself. This matters because it defangs perfectionism: you needn't wait for the perfect moment or the grand vision to begin. When someone decides to learn the cello, teach their child to read, or build a business, they're not waiting for inspiration to strike like lightning—they're showing up Tuesday after Tuesday, and that Tuesday discipline is where great things actually live.