How to have a successful career

The early bird catches the worm ...

Bach's day began at 4 in the morning. He managed with only three or four hours' sleep. He kept this habit, which he had begun as a school pupil, for the rest of his life. He used the extra time to expand his horizons, such as taking evening classes and learning French during his time as an apprentice. He devised an personal sport schedule to improve his health, which was poor in his childhood and youth, and strictly kept to it.

“During my apprenticeship I used my Sundays, if they weren't taken up the the Trade Association's Sunday school, to go on 3-4-hour walks in the hills, weather permitting, which I set off on at 4 in the morning, or to practise drawing, or to improve my mind.”