This post is 978 words and a 5-minute read.
I listen to a lot of podcasts. Some might say too many podcasts and I would agree with them. This is why I aim to cut down on what podcasts I listen to this year. Regardless, two podcasts I enjoy are:
These podcasts tell stories about how various individuals have been able to bend the world to their will. They break down how seemingly normal people were able to accomplish amazing feats.
They talk about people we all know from modern times like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk. To historical figures like Thomas Edison, Andrew Carnegie, and Henry Ford. Even athletes like Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan. To obscure people that you have probably never heard of but are foundation to how the world works today. Like Sam Zell (real estate mogul who basically made REITs a thing) or Sol Price (inspiration for Walmart and Costco). They even cover emperors like Alexander the Great, Napoleon, and Julius Caesar.
A common theme amongst these people is their intense focus and dedication to whatever their craft is. Each person's breakdown always includes stories of intense working hours, and the ability to forgo everything else in life and focus on succeeding in their one thing. An intense drive for success enabled them to transform the world around them to meet their demands.
When I first listened to these podcasts, these stories filled me with awe. I was inspired to hear about Thomas Edison being able to go days without rest to find the perfect filament for the light bulb. I love hearing about Alexander the Great's ability to spend so much time preparing for a battle to understand the best way to attack his enemies. I loved hearing about Walt Disney's ability to go all in on every single venture without regard for the consequences. I loved learning about Christopher Nolan's resourcefulness which helped him create new ways of creating movies.
I could go on but again
However, after listening to so many episodes of both podcasts. I no longer envy or get inspiration from listening to stories about these men and women’s intensity.
I feel sadness.
One of the reasons, I love the two podcasts is because neither podcast tries to sanitize the life of the individuals they cover. They talk about both the good and the bad aspects of their lives. They talk about their fame and excellence but also explore the cost of that fame and excellence.
Here is a good example:
In Founders, he tells a story about a friend finding Thomas Edison passed out in his lab late one night. The friend wakes Edison up and Edison asks him what time it was. The friend told him about midnight.
Edison replied, "Is that so? By George. I must go home, then. I was married today."
On his wedding night, my guy was in a lab working.
Every single one of these guys had stories that to you and I would sound insane. However, it was the cost for them to achieve greatness. As Micheal Ovitz, founder of the most dominant talent agency in the world and also another one of these world benders, puts it:
I don’t know a founder that I’ve worked with anywhere that isn’t driven like the snow. And if you can’t keep that pace up for 20 years, and I mean that, there’s no business I’ve ever seen that can get up and running in under seven to 10 years. I don’t know why it’s that number. But if you look around and start seeing when did businesses hit critical mass? It’s 7 to 10 years.
And if you don’t have the energy and the desire and that burning sensation in your gut and the fear of failing and a desire to make it for the right reasons, and it can’t just be financial, by the way. You got to want to do something with your gains that’s socially important. That’s a very important item for me, don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it. I’ve been blessed with meeting really great founders and working with some of the brightest young people in our country.
I think that if you don’t want to put the time and effort in and you don’t have a belief — if you don’t believe in your idea, don’t start a business.
In the world of people like these, there is only one way to be successful. It is to sacrifice every other part of life for the ultimate goal of building your empire. The message is regularly sold that to be successful you have to be the best. You have to be number 1.
I completely disagree with this.
I choose fulfillment and Joy. To have these I need people to experience life with. I want to volunteer and serve in my church. I want to spend nights talking with my wife about nothing that is of foundational importance. I want to spend holidays surrounded by my family watching Holiday movies. I want to go to soccer games. So on and so forth.
None of these things have to be exclusive or cost me success. Thousands if not millions of people have gained success without destroying everything else. Unfortunately, we do not hear their stories as much because their stories are a bit more common. They are seen as normal and therefore easily ignored.
This leads to most of us chasing after a life we have no desire to lead. We sacrifice the things we want in pursuit of things that leave us empty.
Here is the thing. Success like beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
For someone like Thomas Edison, leading a life that I described for myself, would be hell to him. However; for me, working all the time and never seeing my loved ones regularly, is absolute HELL on earth.
The question we have to ask ourselves is WHAT IS SUCCESS FOR ME?
No one else can answer this question for you. If you allow them to, you will live a miserable existence.
Remember Generosity > greed
God Bless You
✌🏾
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