No words necessary.
If you live on planet earth chances are you remember seeing the adrenaline junkie depicted above doing the incredible and jumping from space. You laughed, you cried, you cheered, you felt good about humanity for 10 minutes - marveling at what the human spirit is capable of when you set aside fear and embrace challenge. Of course, you liked it, you shared it, you tweeted about it, and like me you might have even set it as your profile picture on Facebook. Although I do not wish to turn this into a conversation about social media (that's better left for another day), I do wish to talk about how this jump was possible.
What's the first thing you notice in this picture after the surreal placement of a single man hovering above the Earth? Is it the glow of sapphire blue you see in the distance hugging the edge of the planet? Is it the somewhat emptiness and vastness of space that you know surrounds this man? Maybe, but not what I'm getting at.
I see a red bull. I see Red Bull. And it's slapped all over this man for a good reason.
The power of sponsorship is one you really don't understand until you think about it. Money talks in our society and unless someone is willing to fork over the cash to fund a project (like a skydive from outer space) then it's not going to happen. The moment you accept this is the moment you can start to really dream big.
I'm not here to argue about what is right and wrong or discuss why money should or shouldn't be the primary method by which things get done. This is not a dialogue about politics (directly at least). We are simply going forward with the understanding that money is the fuel for things getting done in the Western, Democratic, Capitalist world in 2013.
Science badass Neil DeGrasse Tyson made a clear distinction between art and science. He said that the difference is that in art: If you don't do it, no one else will. And in science: If you don't do it, someone else will. The example he gives for art is Beethoven's 9th symphony. Creation versus discovery. If he didn't create that music, no one before him or after him would have either. In science, it's different. Science is discovery and if North America doesn't discover something, then Europe will.
Life and living embodies both of these principles to some degree. I argue that being on earth is both creation AND discovery. Firstly, I'll be using Life to be meaning your own individual experiences. Secondly, I will be using Living to be meaning your interaction with other Lifes (that is to say, other people and things in society).
I have spoken to this idea before, but you are the catalyst for everything you experience in Life. If you don't project a positive, successful image of yourself for your future, then it simply won't happen. If you're stuck in the why me, oh god, why me mode, then chances are you will not be able to fish yourself out of that hole. If you have any person you idolize, be it a movie star, singer, writer, scientist, athlete, whatever, you can be absolutely sure that they have always believed that they would get to that point in their lives. This is exactly why if you have a dream, chase it. If you don't have a dream because you're too afraid to think big, then get one. There is nothing easy about this. I know that "getting a dream" isn't as simple as getting up and grabbing one. It takes serious soul searching. Really, it is the most important thing you'll ever do. If you've read my other blog posts, you'll already know that I'm not a big fan of blindly accepting goals and values people put on you to shape what you want to do. Sometimes what you actually want to do fits in with the standard and that's okay. Just don't lie to yourself. Because if you don't take charge of your own life, shape what matters most to you, dream big and persist after what you love, then no one will take charge for you and help you realize your dream. If you don't do it, no one else will. That's creation. Dreaming is creation. Dreaming is art. Your life is art.
Brilliant clip from Pursuit of Happyness (2006). Protect your dreams.
Here's where competition and that initial spiel about money and sponsors and space-jumping comes into play. Living. If having a dream and creating your Life is the why, then competition is the how. This is where your being experiences science. This is discovery. In the business world, an entrepreneur is fueled by a vision but will only last as long as his competitive edge allows him to. Competition is the reason everybody prefers the iPad over the Sony Tablet. Competition is the reason you can buy cheaper doesn't always mean better, or pricey doesn't always mean best. Competition is how you live or die in the real world.
A lot of people confuse competition with being evil or corrupt or greedy. A lot of people can and sometimes are right. But these are not synonyms for competition. It's what happens when people forget the why and focus solely on the how. And those types of people are exactly why there is such an irrational and blind hate towards rich and successful people. How many people reading this would hate to be rich or successful? None I'm sure. And how many people reading this would be convinced that they would be the outlier? If you won a million dollars today, I guarantee that you still wouldn't fit yourself in with those "greedy", "evil", "corrupt" other millionaires, would you? You wouldn't. And that's because you haven't been detached from your initial dream yet (assuming you have formed one since reading the last paragraph).
For simplicity sake, we'll use 2 examples of rich and successful people. One will be used to demonstrate what people think about when they think rich, successful, greedy, evil, corrupt billionaire and the other will be the prime example of someone who has not yet lost their why. First, you have a person obsessed with money. So much so to the point that their end goal isn't boats, mansions, jewelry, fame, or any other luxury - it's money. That's their motivation and their passion and they're willing to do anything to obtain it. This type of person is most competitive but least fulfilled. They have no why, only how. And this is the type of person that the internet labels the "1%" and are evil and corrupt and whatever. We hate them because we know we wouldn't be as corrupt if we had their resources - or at least we think so. This is fine and dandy and you can believe this as much as you want if it helps you reject the idea of competition. If you feel that you don't want to accept current cultural hows then by all means hold on to the fantasy that success and evil are necessarily paired together. Or, you could look at example 2.
This adorable nerd.
Bill Gates is everything any person who wants to be successful should hope to emulate. This guy had a dream and he protected it. He followed it and did everything necessary to realize it. He took his why, mastered the how, and achieved the what. Before I explain the what, I'll talk more about the 4-eyed bowl-cut for a minute. That melvin above is probably the most recognized billionaire on the planet. It doesn't matter who you say "Bill Gates" to, they know exactly who you're talking about. The man made computers part of the culture. I'd even go as far to say that the man is the father of our current culture. You can throw a rock anywhere in North America in any direction and be damn sure it lands within 30 feet of a computer. What did this man do with his billions? It's one Google search away, but his philanthropy is really his trademark that you should takeaway from his riches and success. For example, he's got this list of billionaire buddies that he made sign a document saying that a large portion of their wealth gets donated to less fortunate peoples as soon as they die. The man has donated over $30 billion (thats billion with a BIG B) to charity and has his own set up charity which would take an entire novel-length of talk about (so here's a link to the wikipedia page instead http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundation).
Point is, Bill Gates has evolved his why. That's the cool thing about your dream. It doesn't have to be an achievement. In fact, his how helped him discover what his why actually was all this time - helping people. If it was to make computers, his why was done before he made a single penny. If his why was being rich, he would have stopped working once he made a million. His science helped him discover the true creation within him and that's helping people. Simple enough, right? Helping people should be the route of everyone's why. Bill Gates found purpose in his Life and it stemmed directly from his why. Yours doesn't have to be on the global scale like Bill Gates, but it has to positively affect the people you love. This is that what I talked about earlier. The what is finding purpose in your time on earth.
And the what can only be achieved with equal focus on the why and the how. Equal effort put into art and science. Equal passion for Life and for Living.
To say everything I have to say about this conversation would take up much more space than a blog post should, but above is a brief of what needs to be said about competition and why you should accept the challenge of competing with the world. It may be your only chance to help it.
And what of those who try and fail? Well, to all you losers out there I give you a big thank you. I give you a hug and a kiss. I envy you for you have lived a life far more significant and important than many people will. You have discovered your why, embraced the how and fell victim to whatever obstacle came your way. But it is because of you that people who succeed in their what truly appreciate and understand what they have accomplished. And through them, you find meaning and significance. You have found purpose. Your why is truly revealed. Your failure has bred victory and you are just as important in someone else's achievement as they are. Without you, we all fail. Without someone coming in second place, there is no first place. Without you, there is no reason to try. And when the people in first place get old and reflect on their "accomplishments" and all the money they saw and all the prizes they won, they'll realize that their dream wasn't the finish-line. Their dream was the race.
And you ran that race with them. Thank you.
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