Greatness comes from determination to be great. We have a culture today bent on encouraging others with rainbows and white fluffy clouds, bus sometimes the most enabling force is friction, or a thunder clap: lightning. Greatness comes from rough edges, from people missing your vision, from being beat down in so many times in your life that you finally stand to say enough. You have learned, you have grown, and now you are here to make a difference. It’s your time because you have earned it. Greatness class for the strong. Greatness calls for the people who never give up. Greatness calls for the people who set expected results higher than themselves, larger than life.
One good example of this is a movie I watched recently, Whiplash, where the main character becomes a world class musician in NYC by playing the drums until his hands bled. What pushed him there was a few things, namely:
- He had been playing all his life; he loved it
- He lost his mother early in his life and developed a it’s-me-against-the-world complex
- He loved what he did and pushed himself
- He had a teacher, who the drummer thought was a genius, expect him to do great things. He pushed him, threw things at him, and while I’m not suggesting you find someone who will be violent for you, it did create the necessary space for the drummer to push himself to his limits.
Another example of this is Steve Jobs’s polarizing views on people. To Steve you were either stupid (his words were more harsh) or great. To the people that worked for him, to be stupid in his eyes was crushing, you felt like you couldn’t do anything right and if it didn’t crush you, it inspired you to do better. Said another way, it you didn’t do as he expected, you either met him where he stood, or got out of the way. Steve set his standards high and people rose to the challenge. To be great, someone has to believe you can be great. The first person to believe your great can be external, but eventually you will have to decide that you are great too. And in deed, tou will become it. Greatness is a mindset, it’s telling yourself, I think I can, I know I can, and I will. Greatness comes from within. Determine you’re worth it. Do you want a life of mediocrity or one that pushes the boundaries of your mind? Aspire to and achieve greatness.