success – The Fairhaven Scholarship

ESPN just released their World Fame 100 list and… something feels wrong about it. Seeing Lebron James at number seemed… so wrong. Don’t get me wrong, Lebron James is an incredibly successful man, who works hard and should be recognized for over a decade of excellence. The problem is, I don’t think he is.

I think list is nearly a perfect mixture of what ESPN’s list and what the real list would look like. But this is the problem with fame and fortune; it’s a lot more about perception than anything else. One would hope that the people on the list and their egos aren’t inflated or deflated as a result of their placement, but I’m sure that’s not the case for all of them.

This isn’t about breaking down this list and making claims that international athletes like Federer, Nadal, Bolt and Messi need to be in the top 5. This isn’t about saying certain sports are more important than others, comparing ethnicities or even gender equality. This is about perception; it’s about the perception of others and how you allow that to impact how you perceive yourself… and others.

You can use something like this to work harder and improve, but remember, the best way to measure that growth isn’t necessarily by seeing if you’ve moved up on someone else’s list. Focus on yourself. But yes, for what it’s worth, my list would be very different from this list.

Here’s some quick motivation. Life is extremely short and if you really want something, you should always be somewhat strategic in your approach of how to attain it, but you need to be reckless enough to put in serious effort. 99% of the time you’re going to have to put in more effort… way more effort than you think in order to be successful.

I thought of this when I saw that one of the most innovative billionaires on the planet, who is completely self-made, dropped over $100 million on a painting… my a modern/abstract American artist. The billionaire happens to be Japanese, and this whole scenario just shows you how certain people want a certain something, and although you might not be able to relate to that specific case, you need know exactly what it feels like.

If you’re into a certain something, don’t worry about what anyone else has to say as long as you have your situation under control. You really can achieve anything, but you need to be true to yourself and dedicated to your effort. What that effort is… well that’s entirely up to you and what you spend your earnings on… that again is completely your choice.

Just know that there’s something very special about doing what this man did and will most likely continue to do. His art collection is growing, but he works hard to make sure he can afford that very expensive hobby. He probably had 1,000 obstacles that jumped in his way, so don’t accept failure and don’t make excuses. Be accountable.