Ever wondered what cards the universe has dealt you? Ever wondered what makes you unique and stand out? There are people who seem to be enjoying their lives and living according to the beat of their own heartbeats. What are the cards that the universe has dealt you and why does it feel like the universe never bothered in the first place to give you any?
Lately one has been struggling with the concept of talent. I’ve been asking myself, what is my talent? If I have any. Naturally, we look at successful people and it seems like they were born to do what they do. Looking at Kylian Mbappé, did he grow up knowing he’ll be soccer play? One who, at the age of 22, has already won the World Cup? Again, looking at Kylian Mbappé, he reminds me of a friend of mine. Ironically, they even kinda lookalike. Like Mbappé, my friend’s soccer skills were off the charts. We knew that if we had him on our team, we will win. No question about it. But unlike Mbappé, my friend did not make into a pro soccer player. Why? Why is it the case? My friend had the talent and the work ethic of Mbappé and yet, he never got recognised by any major soccer club in the country. Thinking about it, it makes me sad.
I once watched a documentary on Cristiano Ronaldo. It was an eye-opener. In the documentary, most of his friends mentioned the fact that when he was young, he sucked at soccer. But his relentless work ethic turned him into one of the best players in Portugal and later the world. Many soccer experts like to say that Lionel Messi is someone who has a natural talent for soccer and that Cristiano Ronaldo is someone who simply outworked everyone in the room. It can be argued that Lionel Messi’s work ethic is impressive hence he is still one of the best soccer players in the modern era. It just seems that these people knew what they wanted to do and succeeded at it.
So I wonder, before the fame and fortune, did they feel this way? Did they feel like they are drifting into nothing? The classic example I can think of right now is that of the local rapper. Every town has that local rapper. That rapper we all know has been rapping since forever. And yet, this rapper remains local. Yeah sure, there could be many factors that keep the local rapper local. However, these rappers have a dream. They work hard on their dreams. They continue to produce music. And yet, success does not smile on them. Lady Luck isn’t charmed by their ways and watches on as their choke to Madam Despair’s kiss. Why is this the case?
Jeremy Lynch, a very successful YouTuber, once said that hard work is the sure way to success. He then shared a video explaining the science of consistency. It was an eye-opener too. The video explained how by just showing up and putting in the work, consistently, led to success. Anyone who has worked out will understand this principle. Muscles aren’t built in a month or two. They take time. And the trick, to gain those muscles, one has to show up at the gym consistently.
It takes time for anything worthwhile to be built but in the same breath, it takes great effort and a decent amount of work ethic to build it. When I think of this, this idea calms me down. It reminds me that success does not come overnight. Perhaps the reason my friend did not make it into the big teams was that he was comfortable. In our hometown, he was the best there was. With PlayStation, I was the best there was in my hometown. But the moment I started playing with kids from out of town, I realised that I'm actually an average gamer.
I guess the reason why someone people do not succeed with their talent is that they think their talent is enough. By that I mean, they don’t realise that someone mediocre who’s putting in consistent work will outperform them. Thinking of the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo who is reported to be have been the worst of the bunch. His work ethic, however, ensured that he shined brighter than any other player. This is wonderful. But it leads me back to the original question of this post. Did Cristiano Ronaldo know that he will be a soccer player? Did he have a sense of purpose to be a soccer player?
When we are born into this world, do we know who we will be? Is it some coding in other DNA that will direct our lives? Do criminals know that they will be criminals? Did Nelson Mandela know that he will be the greatest leader our country has ever seen? Dr. Alan Bagg once explained God’s will is our will. Meaning, if our will is to go to hell, God will gladly lead us there. He further explained that at the end of the day, the decisions we make in life are what dictate “ God’s will “ in our lives. Thinking about this, it makes perfect sense. One cannot say they want to lose weight and yet continue to eat junk. One cannot then pray for God to intervene and help to reduce the weight but continue with the bad eating habits. Our will, in this case, is not to lose weight. We might think it is, but the truth – reflected in our actions – indicates that we actually enjoy the junk food.
Our will might be to succeed but how badly do we want that success? Most of us want to be millionaires. And yet, most of us have sacrificed a third of our lives building someone else’s dreams. Unless of course you have a plan to escape the rat race but speaking of being a millionaire yet slaving for a paycheck is tantamount to the one who wants to lose weight but continues eating junk.
Whatever that defines your success, what are the attributes of those that have attained it say about it? Son once said that he used to spend 4 hours or more juggling the ball with his feet- every day. He said that sometimes he would get so deep into the zone that he would not be able to walk afterward. And interestingly, not from sore feet, but from seeing double. Tupac was known to reprimand producers who didn’t take his work seriously. Kobe Bryant would say that he would arrive 2 hours early to practice and leave 2 hours later.
All successful people have left us clues and hints on how they were able to succeed in life. What’s most interesting is that at some point in their lives, they simply made a decision. Will Smith once famously said that one should just decide. One should just decide who will they be and how they’ll ensure they become that person. And that’s it.
This makes me realise that some do not succeed because we have not really made that decision. Thinking of my own life, I have made so many decisions about the fate of my destiny. In Grade 7, I learned that I have ADHD. I’m the type of person that chases "the dopamine." I am the type of person that if I like something, I want to try it myself. And so, because of this, I have tried a lot in my life. My friends call me the typical Life Orientation teenager. After watching that documentary on Cristiano Ronaldo, I wanted to be a soccer player. Every day, without fail, I’d practice on my own. And indeed I improved over the years. But my mom quickly killed that dream because she never allowed me to play for the local youth team. I’ve always loved music and in my first year, I wanted to be a producer. And I went in hard. I created an average of 3 beats a day for a full year. If I remained consistent, I believe I could be very far by now. In 2018, I hated how my body looked and began working out. Again, I went hard. If I remained consistent, I’d be well enough to enter into physique competitions. And yet, in all these endeavors, I always stop and seek out the next “high”.
Personally, this is what is holding me back from success. My definition for success is very simple: be wealthy. However, I always change paths to those riches. Personally, this is the one aspect of me that I’ve come to realise that indeed it’s holding me back.
After watching Will Smith’s “The Best Shape of My Life” on YouTube, I realised that successful people are also humans. It was really interesting and the mind-blowing experience to see Will Smith get mad. He actually got angry on camera and decided to quit filming. Will Smith, the guy who’s always smiling on camera on his mini-series revealed another side of him that showed that at the end of the day, he is human. A human who found success.
It is a reassuring show that even though as a human, we have areas of faults and defeats, success is not exclusive. Success is something that any human can achieve if they put their mind to it. Success is not something one knows one will attain. More accurately, success isn’t something that is engrained in our DNA. Success is the accumulation of daily habits. The accumulation of the decisions we make daily. Success is being consistent in our disciplines. Success to lose weight comes from the daily decisions to eat right and work out. Success to be financially free comes from recording one’s spending habits and living within one’s means. Success is not inscribed in us. Success is the continual improvement of self.
This understanding of success makes sense why someone like Drake remains one of the greatest rappers in the modern era. The difference between Drake and the local rapper is the work ethic and the consistent effort they are willing to put into their craft. One commentator once said this about our local soccer stars. Apparently, one of the local soccer players who is playing abroad got into trouble with the law. The commentator went on to highlight that the player in question is not even in the first division of that country’s soccer league and yet he is behaving like he’s one of the best. He further added to say that the best like Messi and them work hard to be on top; that they are not content being mediocre. That even when they are faced with troubles, their relentless willingness to work harder than the next man makes the public forget about their troubles. He concluded that the Messis and Ronaldos are so bright that their personal dark clouds aren’t big enough to cover their brightness.
Success is one difficult concept to break down. It is difficult because success to some seems to come their way. They seem not to work for it. However, like a good magician, they hide their research, their failures, and only show us their tricks. I once told my friend that I can’t watch motivational videos anymore. Simply because I know that I will succeed. What I want to learn are the strategies. Strategies that enabled Jeff Bezos to make investors comfortable with no profits in the earlier years of Amazon. Strategies that Robert Iger used to extend Disney’s market share. The narrative that they just worked hard and found a way for someone like me is no longer enough. What are the strategies that they used that enabled them to outsmart the opponent and enable them to win?
Arnold Schwarzenegger once said that he doesn’t feel bad to give his opponents bad advice when it’s time to compete. This makes one understand that he understands that his opponents are probably outworking him in the gym but the finer details, the details he has mastered, he will not share with his opponents. This is want enabled him to be the greatest bodybuilder of all time. That’s the strategy that he used and it worked for him. Micheal Jordan said that his competitive drive propelled him forward. His strategy was to think of someone defeating him. The notion that someone is potentially better than him is what drove him to be better than everyone. Micheal Jordan is another case where we learn that he actually did not like basketball and that his heart was always with baseball. And yet, Micheal Jordan remains and will do so for the longest time imaginable remain the greatest basketball player that ever lived.
Micheal Jordan once said that all his endorsements came because of his play on the court. This tells us the strategy that Micheal Jordan used to attain his success. Greats like Stanley Kubrick follow a similar narrative. Stanley Kubrick lived filmmaking. He was not afraid to experiment. He was not afraid to try out untested methods of filmmaking. This made Stanley Kubrick, arguably, the greatest filmmaker of all time.
Truth is, the list doesn’t end with successful people. But the moment we began learning their strategies, their success become attainable. The magic behind it, the higher-than-life allure of their greatness breaks down to easy-to emulate steps. And therefore, it offers us solace that at the end of the day, these people are human like you and me. The difference is that they decided who they want to be and went for it.
Think about it. The average human spends 8 hours asleep. 2 hours eating and cleaning themselves up. Another 8 hours is dedicated to their work. Therefore, they are left with about 6 hours in a day for themselves. The problem with employment is that it might be 8 hours, but there’s a hidden cost of 2-3 hours of you refreshing and recouping from the stress of work. So in essence, the average human has 4-3 hours dedicated to themselves. These hours shrink immensely if you are in a relationship or have children. It is through this mathematical breakdown of our lives we can get a picture of why people remain trapped in despair. They are trapped in the system and success for them will remain an elusive mistress.
My dad likes making the joke that while we watching a soccer game, that player is actually at work. Great soccer players all they do is play soccer or seek ways to improve their soccer game. It is not a practical joke for Cristiano Ronaldo to remove that Coke bottle during his press conference. That level of competition, the greatest detail to one’s nutrition determines who wins the Ballon d'Or. When you watch high-level bodybuilders, they are very meticulous about their nutrition because, at that level of competition, even the slightest miscalculation in nutrition will determine the shape of their physique. People like Christopher Nolan make great films because they know film and live filmmaking. It is not their side hustle or something they take for granted like most local rappers when they talk about their rap careers. They seem content getting the 3 or 4 groupies after their gig and you hear the Drakes, Black Coffee who say that they travel so much that they do not know what winter is anymore.
Yeah sure, there must be a point where it all stops. There must be a point where one can sit and enjoy the fruits of one’s labour. But we will be fools to think we can enjoy those fruits if we do not put the work in first. And most importantly, we take the time to root out the weeds that aim to strangle the seeds of my success. In my case, chasing the dopamine is a major proponent as to why I am not yet where I want to do. And this I realise this now after making the most important decision in my life. Quitting my job has freed 8-10 hours of my day to dedicate to the passions of my heart. I understand why most successful people say that for you to succeed, you cannot do it working for someone else. You simply cannot. And it’s not because you cannot succeed in general. It’s simply because you do not have the time to attain success. Your work takes it all.
Success is a beautiful mistress who’s seduced by the brave and bold. The brave and bold become brave and bold because they have scars that have proved their toughness. They have battle wounds that have made them brave and bold. Success is not for the meek and weak. But the beauty of Success, she is willing to dance the night with anyone willing to take her hand. This is what makes her so beautiful and attainable.
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