Sep 24 in 💬 General
Optimizing Your Chance at Greatness
In "The Practice" by Seth Godin, he talks about Optimizing your chance of achieving Greatness.
We all have a chance at Greatness, but why do only so few achieve it?
Here's the excerpt from the Chapter Summary:
"Some creatives find fulfillment simply in shipping their work to a modest audience. Others have their eye on a bigger prize: greatness. They don’t just want to perform well; they want to be at the pinnacle of their field.
What propels certain creatives to that pinnacle? Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to be a uniquely gifted genius to reach the upper echelons of creative excellence. With commitment and a bit of strategy, you can work your way to the very top.
The key message is: You can optimize your chances of achieving greatness. Greatness is never guaranteed. But if you’re striving for creative greatness, à la pianist Glenn Gould or contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama, there are some techniques that might help you along your way.
First of all, find your cohort. In creativity, context is crucial. Would Robert Zimmerman have metamorphosed into Bob Dylan if he’d never left Minnesota for the vibrant folk scene of Greenwich Village in the 1950s? Maybe – but maybe not. Dig deep on any of your artistic idols, and you’ll probably find they didn’t work in isolation. From Renaissance Florence to the Algonquin Round Table, creatives congregate. And when they do, they spur each other on to produce greater, more groundbreaking work. So set out to find your cohort.
Second, commit to your superpower skill. That’s the thing you do best, the thing that makes you stand out in a crowded market. Focusing on your superpower skill might mean neglecting other parts of your work. And that’s fine. In fact, it shows you’re on the right track. Think of FedEx, the global shipping powerhouse. Would you send a priceless oil painting cross-country with FedEx? Probably not. Because FedEx’s superpower is their speed, they leave ultra-careful handling to their competitors. So, don’t try and corner the whole market. Commit to painting amazing portraits if that’s your superpower, and leave landscapes to others. It’s all about finding your niche and excelling there.
Last, do the reading. Would you go to a graduate seminar and start sharing your opinions if you hadn’t done the reading first? The answer, hopefully, is no, of course not. The same logic applies to whatever creative field you’re in: read the key textbooks, follow the key blogs, listen to the key podcasts, and brush up on the most influential practitioners. To perform at your peak, you need to put in the work."
I hope that you understand there's a lot of competition out there to be Great, but there's significantly less competition at actually BEING Great. If you can work on yourself and your content day in and day out and maximize what you're good at and never quit getting better, you cannot fail.
Just some Food for Thought
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Optimizing Your Chance at Greatness
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