It’s Hard to be Extraordinary

Last week I had lunch with a business friend, and we were talking about friends who are extraordinary, or trying to be. These are the truly exceptional who have endless energy and vision, and keep pushing forward. My lunch partner then made the statement that to really be extraordinary was very hard. His point was that even if we choose to be extraordinary, in most cases we are not allowed to. From his perspective, there wasn’t a lack of ambition as much as there were fewer outlets that allow ambitious people to accomplish extraordinary things. Even if a lawyer has exceptional skills, and does everything right, but works for the wrong firm, they may not reach their potential. If you’re an exceptional engineer working for a less than exceptional manager, you may be held back. You may have great entrepreneurial ideas, but the world presses you back because you went to the wrong school. Maybe this is true, but be careful not to make it an excuse. Exceptional people do exceptional things because they don’t give up.