The Best In The World: What's the Point?
Once in a while the question comes up: Why?
We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. --Chuck Palahniuk
I hope this helps.
Even more interesting is the point itself: Everybody is best-in-the-world at something. The trick is to find out what it is and to find it out in time. This brings up the next question: Why does it take so long for most people to find out what they are here for?
Excellence × Chutzpah = Irresistible + Invincible
Multiply excellence and chutzpah to achieve peak performance, become irresistible and invincible and look even better in business, fitness, on stage, and beyond.
That's what it says, at least.
- Why does anyone would not want to look better, in any sense of the word?
- If it is possible to improve, would you? Would you want to?
- The best in the world? Do you want to be the best at anything?
It is not merely about "accomplishing something", not about "getting things done" and out of the way. The best way to get things out of the way is by getting them out of the way. What it is about is getting things done the best way possible, the most elegant, beautiful, effective, whatever, way there is...
Accomplishing nothing but the best, whatever it takes. Yes, that's elite. That's real performance. Why not? Courage. Advocating insanity? Probably. Endurance? Doing things anyway. More and more. Faster.
Maybe you need hardcore, dirty, hacks to get the best out of what you have.
Attack common sense, because, by definition, common sense is average. Make decisions as fast as possible.
Do everything as good as you can, if you know someone to do it better, get him to do it. Doing everything the best you can is not the same as doing everything the best way possible. That is what it is about. Exceed expectations.
Doing the best you can might imply finding someone else to do and complete the job.
Doing the best you can is always doing more than you are expected to do. It's a little more than you planned to do.
Immortality is a collateral of best-in-the-world. You are not going to care, though.
Labels: best-in-the-world, business, chuck+palahniuk, chutzpah, delegation, elite, excellence, immortality, leadership, lifehacks, lifestyle, management, marketing, productivity, success
Anti-Hero of the Day: The Constantly Whining Business Man
When determining the best isn't worth the effort or the options are few and written about over and over, it's helpful to consider the other end of the spectrum.
In other words: Let's look at the negative to get a glance of the positive.
Three possible reasons explain -- not justify -- why a business man would constantly complain about his particular business and for good measure, about the economy as a whole --
- To convince his vendors and suppliers to drop their prices;
- To prevent his employees from asking for higher wages;
- To express his ignorance and that he really doesn't know what he's doing.
Now, it's possible to get your vendors to offer better deals without whining. That is called negotiating. And while the art of negotiation certainly includes acting and pretending to be whining, it's not required and it doesn't have to become the state of mind of the constantly negotiating negotiator. The art of negotiation is related to the art of war; ask Sun Tzu.
Next, how is it perceived to whine when a No is too hard -- for you? You whine as an excuse? Instead of an excuse? Also, employees who are denied the money they deserve plus having to endure the whining are double likely to eventually leave.
In the end, the always whining business man is probably ignorant and incompetent. It's a matter of honor to stop complaining, otherwise quitting is an option to consider -- for vendors, employees, and ultimately, for the poor man himself.
Labels: art+of+war, business, leadership, motivation, negotiations, personal+branding, rant, success, wow, wow-bits
Follow Your Excellence
Do only what you are good at. Even more, of the things you are good at, select those which you are best at. Spend as much time as possible working and applying your set of core skills.
Persuade the people you work with of the enormous increase in efficiency if everyone was doing what they excel at. We are talking orders of magnitude here, even without exaggeration. The advantages almost present themselves: Incidentally, you work fast and most accurate when challenged at your level of expertise. In fact, the work you dismiss as too easy or as not challenging enough is not lesser work -- for you it is even harder than the most difficult jobs within your area of comfort.
Delegate as much as possible of everything which does not fall into your core competency. It is not that you are too beautiful for any job, instead you are too busy accomplishing what only you can do, and what only you can do best.
Install and ruthlessly defend flexible hierarchies of competence, wherever you are, for he who knows best or most is the boss -- this particular time, in his particular field. The result is dynamic leadership with true, original leaders, the capacities of their respective fields.
Do what you are really good at. Delegate everything else. Outsource even the most basic tasks, actions, and processes as long as it helps you and frees time and resources to explore your excellence.
Identify and analyze your stumbling blocks, the tasks where you always tend to procrastinate. This is not about overcoming procrastination, it is about eliminating the cause of procrastination once and for all. Tasks that make you procrastinate are the primary candidates for delegation and outsourcing. Tasks that feel even remotely annoying are likely to be delegated. Focus on your core skills and automatically get rid of procrastination.
How many hours do you spend each day applying your most valuable talent? Two hours? Three? One? You work in the business of your choice, you create a dream job for yourself. Increase the number of excellence hours only slightly and compare your results after a while.
When you feel like you don't even need sleep anymore, you are following your talent most appropriately.
Labels: business, competency, delegation, excellence, gtd, leadership, lifestyle, marketing, motivation, outsourcing, personal+branding, procrastination, productivity, sleep, talent

