1. The best is the enemy of the good
Being the best means being better than others, surpassing them, and standing out. You can't do the same as everyone else to become the best. You need your own path.
You can't be the best at everything: while you're studying everything, someone else is specializing in one thing. The best way to become the best is to pick a very narrow specialty and become a world-class pro in it.
If you've been doing ballet since age five for 8 hours a day, there will always be someone who started at age three and trains for 10 hours a day. By age fifteen, their experience will surpass yours by 5000 hours. And then there are geniuses, for whom you need to train three times as much per hour. Plus, the best teachers in the world, while you, for example, are a self-taught learner.
The only way to become the best without a unique path is to work more than everyone else, be talented, have good teachers, and wealthy parents. Though, that’s not quite "like everyone else," right?
But even the fastest and hardest-working horse in the world won't catch up with a car. You need your own strategy, your own unique plan to become the best without sacrificing everything.
2. Becoming the best isn't easy
There will always be someone who started before you. Someone with wealthy parents, someone who studied at the best university in the world. Someone's relatives took them to work with them. Nothing wrong with that. It happens. This is called "different starting conditions." But such people are a minority: most people succeed thanks to unconventional thinking, hard work, and the ability to constantly learn new things.
Life is like a card game. Anyone can win if they are dealt with aces — a professional wins regardless of the cards dealt. They minimize their influence with their skill. No one understands this better than professional athletes. Many of them have only a few years to seize their chance and achieve success.
3. There's always someone willing to work more than you
There are many such people. Some are workaholics, perfectionists, or just in love with their work. Yes, many sacrifice family, friends, and are ready to work 80 hours a week. Work is their life. That’s not the path for us. But they can easily push you to the career sidelines. You’re not ready to spend 6 months a year on business trips to get a promotion, but they are.
The average Chinese schoolchild studies harder than Europeans, and a Chinese employee is ready to do your job for a quarter of your salary. Working a lot isn't the path to success, but working little is the path to failure.
4. Cultural environment
Few places in the world promote working hard and honestly. If you study a lot in college, hang out in the library, and pass all exams yourself, you're a crammer. And if you "partied all semester but still passed" or "beat the system" in some other way, you're the winner. The road called "work more" has too much competition (traffic jam, if you will), and this method no longer works. You need to find another way.
It's hard to strive for success when society itself hates the successful and wealthy. Hates and envies. Poor people, after getting money, start showing off their wealth. Truly wealthy people behave more modestly: Bill Gates can walk around in a $10 T-shirt because, in both cases, he is Bill Gates.
Meanwhile, entrepreneurs are the ones creating jobs and driving the economy forward. Salaries of hired employees are the result of business competition for the best talent. The more businesses in a country, the higher the salaries will be.
You need to love your life and your time. Money is just a tool that makes you financially independent. And if you're financially independent, you can do what you want and not do what you don't want.
Be careful with "sacrifices" when you become the best. Don't sacrifice truly important things: family, friends, health, beloved work. Being financially successful at 50 and having no family, friends, health, or love for your job isn't success — it's failure.
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