Vol 18 – The art of achieving greatness – Work on the boring but do it every day

Humans have an unending desire to achieve greatness. This is one of the key reasons why we as a species continue to evolve, make progress and grow despite multiple challenges we face. However, there are few people who manage to leave an indelible mark in history. Its been a quest to continue to study characteristics of greatness and there have been multiple aspects around which the causes of achieving greatness has been attributed to. Is it drive? Is it ability? Is it knowing almost at once what you do best? Is it finding an original solution to an age-old problem? Is it classic thinking outside the box? Is it unparalleled discipline, focus, and concentration?

As Peter Drucker wrote many years ago:

History’s great achievers—a Napolean, a da Vinci, a Mozart—have always managed themselves. That, in large measure, is what makes them great achievers. Most people think they know what they are good at. They are usually wrong. More often, people know what they are not good at—and even then more people are wrong than right. And yet, a person can perform only from strength…. One should waste as little effort as possible on improving areas of low competence. It takes far more energy and work to improve from incompetence to mediocrity than it takes to improve from first-rate performance to excellence.

In this blog article, the author covers 6 mini stories with an over-arching theme of habit, perseverance and repetitiveness. As humans, while we look for greatness, we do not like monotony or practice. We are intreaked by short cuts and quick workarounds to each problem. We also have an innate inclination to look for an output or a solution without a focus on the process. Unfortunately, its these which act as a counter-balancing force to greatness.

Blog Article : SIX at 6: Diverting a Meteor, One Caveat, The Last Place on Earth, Losing 140 Pounds, Career Trajectories, and Sailing To The Horizon – Billy Oppenheimer