James Schramko here. Today, I’m going to share with you why maybe it doesn’t matter if you don’t come first.
The older I get, the less important being competitive with other people matters to me. In fact, I’d rather just benchmark from myself. I’d be happier if in ten years from now that I’m a much better surfer, that I’m a better father, that my business is even more profitable.
These things are what I’m measuring against. I want to look younger. I want to feel healthier and that’s gonna make me happy. I feel less desire to go out there and crush the competition and to be the number one in my category. And I thought it’s really interesting.
Recently, I was watching a Formula 1 race. And the commentators were talking about the Top 6 and then everyone else. They really have separated the pack into two categories. And for the Top Six which were the two Mercedes-Benz, the two Ferraris, and the two Red Bulls. They’re expected to be in the Top Six. And then there’s the rest, there’s everyone else.
There are teams like Haas, and McLaren, and Renault. And these teams are happy if they come seventh. In fact, seventh is actually a pretty good result. They’re not going to beat the top six because they don’t have a car that’s good enough. They don’t have reliability that’s good enough, and in some cases, they may not have the drivers that are good enough. So, they’re happy with the position from seventh. In fact, seventh is really like the next first.
So, I wonder, is it absolutely important to you that you are the number one in the entire world at what you do or to be okay if you’re just somewhere in the top few percent? Maybe if you’re in the top five percent of income earners, that would be a good benchmark for you. You’re not going to be a billionaire but hey, you know what, a lot of billionaires have a flawed existence.
And I see so many business pages, and business Instagrams, and business videos and business books. They’re all flogging this idea that you’ve got to be a billionaire or you’re somehow not successful. Well, I don’t know about you but I think being a billionaire might have too much compromise and there could be some real downsides to that.
Nonetheless, wondering if your friends are actually real friends or how much time or energy did you have to put into making that billion dollars when you could have probably just got by with a paltry five hundred million dollars a year. You know, maybe even $20 million worth of net worth or $25 million is enough to have a fantastic life.
So, think about that – do you have to come first or would it be okay to just be a better version of yourself over the next few years? I’d love to know your thoughts on this.
Should you absolutely have to be a billionaire or would it be okay if you’re just happy in your own skin and you’re having a good life and you’re constantly setting the benchmark for yourself so that you’re not putting yourself into a depressive state, getting too wound up about comparing yourself to illusionary goals, in many cases?
And even if you got it, would you truly be happy? Might be worth a think about. I’m James Schramko. This is jamesschramko.com
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