Quote of the Day: Robert M. Parker, Jr. on Daily Inspiration

Before most people had heard the phrase “influencer,” one man’s palate could move markets. A single high score could elevate an unknown bottle into global demand, and that kind of leverage didn’t come from casual sipping, it came from relentless calibration, thousands of comparisons, and the courage to sound certain when others hid behind mystique. Out of that hard-won intensity comes his unapologetic rule: "I've always followed the rule that anything worth doing is worth doing excessively".

Read generously, “excessively” isn’t a permission slip for wreckage; it’s a challenge to stop living your best ambitions at half-volume. Most of us don’t fail from lack of talent, we fade from lack of commitment. We dabble, we multitask our dreams, we practice only when we feel inspired. Parker’s inversion suggests a cleaner standard: if something truly matters, treat it like it matters. Give it enough reps, enough attention, enough care that your progress becomes inevitable rather than accidental.

There’s a second layer: intensity is often misread as instability. When you care deeply, you risk looking “too much”, too focused, too serious, too hungry. But expertise is built by people willing to be slightly unreasonable for a long time. The trick is to aim your excess at the right target: the craft, the process, the deliberate practice, not the applause. That’s how success is earned quietly, and how courage shows up daily.

Robert M. Parker, Jr. helped reshape modern wine culture by popularizing the 100-point scale and proving that disciplined judgment, repeated, tested, and clearly expressed, could democratize a world once guarded by insiders.

Today, pick one thing worth doing and “overdo” it in a healthy way: set a 45-minute timer, remove distractions, and complete one focused sprint with a written finish line before you begin. May your best work receive your full attention, and may your attention become your advantage.