The Hamilton Challenge

The Greats weren’t great because at first they could paint.

The Greats were great because they paint a lot.

Macklemore

Listen up, everybody! We’ve got a challenge in front of us. 

I call it The Hamilton Challenge.

There is a musical about a man named Alexander Hamilton and in this musical, the narrator describes a pivotal moment of American history:

Alexander joins forces with James Madison and John Jay to write a series of essays Defending the new United States Constitution, entitled The Federalist Papers

The plan was to write a total of twenty-five essays

The work divided evenly among the three men

In the end, they wrote eighty-five essays in the span of six months

John Jay got sick after writing five

James Madison wrote twenty-nine

Hamilton wrote the other FIFTY-ONE!

Alexander Hamilton played a large role in the formation and early years of the United States of America. The musical portrayed him as a man who was hyper-focused on his goals with an insatiable drive. They say he would write “like he’s running out of time, every day and night like he’s running out of time!”

The challenge ahead of us is simple, but it will be a grind. Only you know what you are dealing with and what you need to overcome. And I bet you probably know just what to do to rise to the challenge. But, let’s be real, it’ll be hard.

In the span of six months, these three men set out to create something that was bigger than themselves. Of course, we can only ever be ourselves so it requires us to show up, over and over again. For Jay, Madison, and Hamilton, the challenge was one more essay.

You don’t have to write essays, you can do what you need to do! Make some art, go work out, try to make a friend. The challenge is simple, the grind hard, because you have to do it a lot.

That brings us to the rules of The Hamilton Challenge: you have six months from when you start to rise to your challenge not just once, or twice but FIFTY-TWO times. If you can beat Hamilton, you get a gold star. Silver medals if you beat Madison’s twenty-nine. Anybody who wants to do some dabbling can go for a gentleman’s bronze and beat Jay’s five.

For six months, commit: to do something “like you’re running out of time.” Practice what you want to be good at and do it a lot. Maybe you can make some changes in this world too!

I’m going to go with these posts and I’ll publish them here. You can do your thing and share it with whoever you want, it’s mostly just for you. If you complete the challenge, you will reap the rewards of being done with that challenge. What a relief that will be! Plus all that other stuff you know it will bring.

Hamilton Challenge Grade Breakdown:

In the span of six months, rise to the challenge X times.

A: 52
B: 30
C: 6
D: 1
F: 0