Too bad the guy self-destructed.

For the longest time I was incredibly frustrated because I couldn't "play" guitar. In other words, my life was about very strict technique development and playing from scores. In the meantime, some of my friends could just grab a guitar and play great sounding rock and roll riffs. I simply couldn't do that.

Until one day I could. I mean, I could play anything. And my repertoire expanded with ease. And my friends were still playing the same ten pop songs five years later while I could approach just about anything. The difference was effort and discipline. I think the same applies to anything, be it music, engineering or business.