11 crucial career lessons we can learn from the award-winning musical 'Hamilton'

The Tony Awards/Youtube

Lin-Manuel Miranda's smash hit "Hamilton" is everything (you don't win sixteen Tonys by just being mediocre).

It's also pretty much about everything: it manages to cram musings on history, passion, governance, memory, legacy, friendship, war, jealousy, love, race, America, and death into its 47 catchy songs. 

I'd argue that one of the musical's most important threads deals with success and drive. 

The entire show hinges around the boundless ambition and superhuman work ethic of Alexander Hamilton, as played by Miranda. Meanwhile, Leslie Odom Jr.'s Aaron Burr has his dreams of political success frustrated. Angelica Schuyler Church, played by Renée Elise Goldsberry, sees her ambitions stifled by the sexist standards of the 18th century. Other characters, like the members of Hamilton's squad, George Washington (Chris Jackson), and Thomas Jefferson (Daveed Diggs), all doggedly pursue their own goals. 

Seriously, just listening to "Non-Stop" or "My Shot" is enough to make you feel super lazy. This play is like a Broadway-sized motivational poster.

"Hamilton" might be about statesmen that lived and died over 200 years ago, but the musical is so accessible that it's easy to relate to its characters and ideas. Forget the "10 Duel Commandments" — here are 11 of the musical's pearls on success that you can apply to your own career and ambitions: 

Take your time

Don't rush your dreams. 

This piece of advice may sound odd, especially given the meteoric rise of both the real-life Hamilton and the 2015 musical based upon his life. 

But it's important to reflect on how much work went into this play. After getting inspired by Ron Chernow's biography of the first Treasury Secretary, Miranda spent six years of his life writing "Hamilton," according to Fortune.

Instead of rushing to capitalize on his good idea and the momentum of his previous Broadway hit "In the Heights," Miranda took his time. He nurtured and cultivated his inkling until it was polished.  

So, don't hurry your passion. Take the time you need to hone your craft and make your projects special, whatever they may be.  

Never stop learning

In the musical, Hamilton is always striving to gain more knowledge. 

As a young clerk in the Caribbean, he worked hard and "read every treatise on the shelf" before getting sent to King's College — now Columbia University. 

As a young undergraduate, he focuses on his studies, but also educates himself on the complex politics brewing in colonial New York City on the eve of the American Revolution. 

He gets the coveted position of aide d'camp to George Washington and becomes immersed in battle strategy. After the war, he went back to New York and became one of the best lawyers around. As Treasury Secretary, he willed the nation's financial system into existence. 

The man is constantly expanding his mind and reinventing himself — he is never satisfied with resting on his laurels. 

Work hard

One of Hamilton's defining traits is his ability to "write like he's running out of time." His work ethic is off the charts.

This is clear when an amazed Burr points out that, when it came to writing the influential Federalist Papers, John Jay quit after writing five, James Madison wrote 29, and Hamilton wrote ... the other 51!

His monster productivity, whether he's in the army or the President's Cabinet, allows him to quickly rise to prominence.