Be Great

Assume everyone in the world wants to be great, and that everyone in the world would do anything to achieve some sort of greatness; what would be the first thing holding them back? The place they were raised, how much money they were “born” with, or just the color of their skin are all good answers as a first obstacle, but they wouldn’t be the very first one. Before any written exam or physical competition there has to be an increase in knowledge or physical attributes. This is what I would call the preparation phase. After the practice is complete the person now has to go into their specific trials whether that be a chess tournament or a friendly race down the street. This is what I would call the acquire phase. The “final form” of this person has now been achieved and they are ready to have an okay to good performance. However, this is when the first obstacle will reveal itself clearly. Sometimes a good performance doesn’t get it done and a lot of people don’t understand that. The first obstacle to overcome for anyone who wants to be great isn’t the training, or even finding something to be great at, that part is easy. The first obstacle is to overcome losing, or failing after the first time when the training was as thorough as possible. Knowing that there wasn’t anything else that could have been done, and the only option is to get right back to it.

This first obstacle can really destroy some people that initially say they want to be great, but then fail two or three times in a row. Usually these people are fed from a silver spoon at a young age, and are told their going to be great. Telling a child their going to be great when they have no idea how to conduct themselves is setting them up for failure. Break that statement down it can be looked at like this: A child is supposed to inherit an auto body shop from his father when he comes of age. The auto body shop brings in a decent penny every year, but instead of having the boy work in the shop with him he tends to it all himself. Telling the boy eventually he will be the one running the shop. The boy knows how to be a mechanic, but is not forced/asked to keep a watchful eye on the way his father runs the shop. The father dies years later and the son as promised takes over the shop, but the numbers fall drastically and the shop within a year closes forever. The problem wasn’t that cars weren’t getting fixed, or that the business itself had changed, but the boy only knew how to be good at something. He was good at fixing cars, and okay at running the shop, but his father was phenomenal in every aspect. The longevity of the shop was built on the shoulders of greatness and was destroyed in a heartbeat by a good mechanic. Basically it takes a lot of work to be great, it’s not something that people just stumble upon even if it’s wrapped up, and given like a present.

That being said if it’s easy it doesn’t count. Nothing great ever happened because one 24 hour night of practice. It came from consistent practice for months maybe years on end, and the people that talk about how easy it is will never be great. They will end up terrible people who take from everyone around them. Constantly complaining about how things could be better, and how easy everything should be, continuing that cycle endlessly until they finally pass it down to their children. More or less these are the people that have been fed out of a diamond studded fork, and have never felt anything real. They’ve never felt the pain of being told they weren’t good enough, or worked to the bone on something they love only for it to crumble before them in the blink of an eye. They’ve never had to perform exceptionally at anything because it’s always been laid out for them, life from these eyes will always be obscured, and sinister so they should be avoided. Average people are the enemy of great individuals. They suck great energy in and spew out doubt hoping for the downfall of something they can never be. I’ve seen it time after time how average individuals make it harder to see the big picture or any picture at all; its because their constantly speaking about how it’ll never happen while on the other hand great people talk only of how it will happen. In that kind of relationship something has to give, and either someone will lose their resolve, or the friendship ceases to exist.

Which brings us to the second big obstacle of dedication. The first layer of this obstacle is the mental anguish. The handcuffs on ones brain that says they can’t do something, or that being good is enough for them when they know their destined for something more. It comes in the form of depression, anxiety, trauma and other mental ailments that hinder our progress saying “C’mon skip one day”. No one can get in a great persons way only they themselves can do that. To stay truly dedicated is to be as sharp as broken glass, and hungrier than a polar bear in spring. When that type of mentality is put forth toward a goal nothing can dim the flame. For example how many rappers and comedians use the phrase “self made”? It’s the coined phrase of this generation; everyone wants to be self sufficient and do it themselves. Unfortunately no one hears the lyrics of how they had to cutoff their best friend, or cease speaking with their sister, or how they got disowned from their family. Greatness stops for no one and for some its an attack on how average they are, but to be dedicated is to let nothing stop the drive no matter the cost.

The Olympics is the largest athletic spectacle that happens every four years. Athletes from all over the world compete in their specific event for a short duration of time, and in that time the athletes themselves determine a winner. Before they became Olympic level athletes they were first children watching the Olympics on television. When they seen something they loved and desired it inspired them to achieve that dream. They start as young as elementary school, and continue training everyday of their lives continuing on. In season, off season, rain, or shine they are competing until they get to college. Then being considered one of the best in their region they have to compete at the Olympic trials, and if they can manage there they are accepted into the Olympic games. There they are matched against the worlds elite, and they get one singular chance at gold. They could get disqualified, or fail a drug test, but the real pain comes in losing (even if they get second place). A normal person would say at least they placed, but an Olympian only has one thing on their mind, and that’s gold. So, they go back and train for another four years (1,460 days) for the same exact moment. Those first 14 years were just the beginning. They were good years, but the next four years will be great years, and that’s how they’ll reach the top of the podium.

So, don’t quit when it gets hard; it’s not supposed to be easy, and if it was then everyone would be an Olympian, and that would take the fun out of it. Greatness comes to those who seek it everyday. If there’s someone speaking about how they can’t do something, or how hard something is and they aren’t on year four of training leave them be. They haven’t even started their journey and they’ve already quit. They don’t want it, because if they did they would be arguing solutions not creating endless pits of problems. The entire world wants to be great, but most will be disappointed because its to hard for them. The next group is smaller, and will be adequate because they want to be comfortable. The good group will be even smaller because they have to work hard, but they lack consistency and will never break the barrier. The few who make it into greatness will be rewarded with everything that comes with it, and a final bonus prize that the other groups will never see, inner peace. Don’t stop short and wish for better everyday. Do better everyday, attack the world, never give up, be great.