1. The best is the enemy of the good
To be better means to be better than others, to surpass them, and to stand out from them. You cannot do the same thing as everyone else and become the best. You need your own path.
You cannot be the best at everything: while you are studying everything, someone else is specializing in just one thing. The best way to become the best is to choose one very narrow specialty and become a world-class pro in it.
If you have been doing ballet since you were five, 8 hours a day, there will always be someone who started at three and trains 10 hours a day. By the age of fifteen, their experience will exceed yours by 5000 hours. And then there are geniuses, where for every hour they practice, you need to practice three. And the best teachers in the world, while you, for example, are self-taught.
The only way to become the best without having a unique path is to work more than everyone else, be talented, have great teachers, and have wealthy parents. Although that is not exactly “like everyone else,” is it?
But even the fastest and most hard-working horse in the world will not outrun a car. You need your own strategy, your own unique plan, to become the best without sacrificing everything in the process.
2. Becoming the best is not easy
There will always be someone who started earlier than you. Some people have wealthy parents, some studied at the best university in the world. Some were hired by relatives. It is not a big deal. It happens. This is called “different starting conditions.” But such people are a minority: the world is full of those who achieved success on their own thanks to unconventional thinking, hard work, and the ability to constantly learn new things.
Life resembles a card game. Anyone will win if they are dealt all the trumps—a professional will win regardless of the cards they are dealt. They minimize their impact through skill. No one understands this as well as professional athletes. Many of them have only a few years to capitalize on their chance and achieve success.
3. There is always someone ready to work more than you
There are many such people. Among them are workaholics, perfectionists, and people who are simply in love with their work. Yes, many of them sacrifice family, friends, and are ready to work 80 hours a week. Work is their life. That is not our path. But they are perfectly capable of pushing you onto the career sidelines. You are not ready to spend 6 months a year on business trips to get a promotion, but they are.
The average school student in China works harder than a European one, and an employee in China is ready to do your job for a quarter of your salary. Working a lot is not the path to success, but working too little is the path to defeat.
4. Cultural environment
In few places in the world is it customary to work a lot and honestly. If in college you study a lot, disappear into the library, and take all your exams on your own, then you are a nerd. But if you “partied all semester but still passed” or otherwise “beat the system,” then you are great. On the road called “work more,” competition is too intense (a traffic jam, if you like), so this approach no longer works. You need to look for another path.
It is hard to strive for success when society itself hates successful and wealthy people. Hates them and envies them. Poor people, once they get money, begin to show off their wealth. Truly wealthy people behave more modestly: Bill Gates can wear a $10 T-shirt, because with it or without it, he is Bill Gates.
Meanwhile, it is entrepreneurs who create jobs and drive the economy forward. The wages of employees are the result of businesses competing for the best talent. The more businesses there are in a country, the higher wages will be.
You need to love your life and your time. Money is just a tool that makes you financially independent. And if you are financially independent, you can do what you want and not do what you do not want.
Be more careful with “sacrifices” when you are becoming the best. Do not sacrifice truly important things: family, friends, health, the work you love. Being financially successful at 50 and having no family, no friends, no health, and hating your job is not success—it is failure.
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