“I wish I could ____ as much as ____ did”
In ancient Greece
the Olympus was this place where,
up on a mount,
people considered to be “Gods” in their field…
like in trading (Hermes),
warfare (Ares),
or farming (Demeter), for instance…
lived,
and enjoyed a range of upsides (vf: avantages, bons cotés) their past successes had brought them.
All while,
down in the valley,
the townsfolk would do their best to deal with everyday life struggles.
“Making it to the next day” was sure part of what these people hoped for.
As well as wanting to know “What’s life like from up there, at the top? How things look?”.
So they, too, could experience something better than what they had for a life (in the valley).
The same kind of hopes we have these days,
you and I,
when you think about it.
Even if words like “Best”,
“Top”,
“Greatest”,
and “G.O.A.T” have replaced “God”.
In the way we talk about someone who has “reached the top in his or her field”,
I mean.
Let it be in chemistry (Rosalind Franklin),
boxing (Muhammad Ali),
sci-fi writing (Isaac Azimov or Arthur C Clarke),
architecture (Frank Lloyd Wright or Frank Gehry),
car design (Giorgetto Giugiaro),
advertising (David Ogilvy or Mary Wells Lawrence),
pop music (The Beatles),
or else.
The main difference with our Greek great-great,
great-great-great,
great-great-great cousins being this:
It’s easier today to find information about the people we look up to,
or want to be as successful as,
than it was in ancient Greece.
Also,
to get a sense of an “how to”…
of a blueprint-for-success to follow,
than it used to.
As,
now,
we can learn as much as we’re capable to read,
listen,
watch and remember.
All that from a few books and a few clicks.
In some cases,
the amount of details-to-be-found can go down to what time this hero of ours woke up,
up to what time she went to bed,
at night.
And,
at the same time,
be so wide,
for a range of information,
that it can allow us to understand what,
both,
the worldview of that person,
her thinking process and work habits.
Making for truckloads of anecdotes,
insights and loose ends.
Loads we’re tempted to keep growing,
at some point.
Cause we’re not sure if what we’ve gathered is enough,
to get us started on the same path our hero took.
And, moreover,
if these loads are also enough to give us some guarantee.
That we’ll succeed as much as she did,
if not more.
Yet…
In all these information loads we end up with…
about those who “reached the top of their field”…
there’s one piece that gets overlooked.
Which one?
The “drive” that those who end up being called “Best” or “GOAT” have,
to put what they learn to the test.
Over and over.
So they can find out the true value of an information.
“Can it help me reach the goal I’m working on? If so, in what way?”
Cause not all information are equal.
Some are worth more than others.
At least,
it’s what someone realizes when he goes from “letting things he learns pile up and go unused”,
to starting to “take action based on them”.