A self-motivating child? Jackpot.
According to his mother, he says, he “didn’t have any interest in it at all” in the piano aged five and only resumed playing a year later after he discovered that his friends were taking lessons.
“I had no great desire to practice, but then some friends at school started playing and I was spurred on to work by the thought of them catching me up. It was a competition,” he remembers.
Grosvenor likes to relay memories of his formative years in competitive terms: He admits that he didn’t care much for the music as a child, but rather saw playing the piano as a “challenge” that needed “overcoming.”
It’s the wish of every achieving parent to have a kid that is desperate to be awesome. Doesn’t always work out.
I’m starting to believe that competitive pride is the most valuable resource in the universe. How much progress would we have if we didn’t care about besting our neighbors?
Not Unreasonable 