Here are two quotes that define excellence and the true qualities of a genius:
1. "The man who can do the average thing when everyone else around him is losing his mind." – Napoleon Bonaparte, and
2. "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration" – attributed to Thomas Edison.
I find these truly fascinating as they urge success seekers to anchor themselves in the fundamentals. In a world driven by the IPL cricket culture, even medium term looks like long term. Both success and failure are seen to be quickly passing phases, in a way positive as you don’t have enough time to dwell on both events and you can quickly move on. But success is a qualitative journey and not just a quantitative one.
Potentially, life can be compassionate, ruthless, compassionately ruthless and ruthlessly compassionate – all at the same time. True seekers who want to develop themselves from the core and contribute substantially need to focus on the journey as a continuous one and not simply on the destination. The destination is but a distraction from the joy of being in the journey for journey’s sake. Yes, results matter, but commitment to the cause, being rooted in the journey matter more.
In the IPL-driven culture world, where running on the fast lane is seen as being achievement oriented, and the rat race simply an inevitability, what Warren Buffet says has a piercing perspective: "No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time: You can't produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant."
Some things simply take time, sometimes a ‘long’ time; that is the law of nature. And nature does not have a common script for everyone. The scripts are as varied as each human on this planet, with certain common binding principles.
The genius question comes into the picture when we want to build something beyond the immediate and the culture of process excellence takes results out of the equation. Stuff like discipline, preparation are not just mandatory process principles for attaining success, they are value systems one would practice irrespective of the results. Yes, based on how results pan out, one may need to adapt or change course, but the fundamentals fundamentally don’t change. Ruthless consistency in being rooted in the fundamentals is what defines a true genius. The ability to go through pain and yet stick to the chosen path with determination is what defines a genius.
As author Morgan Housel writes in his book ‘Same As Ever’: “Everything worth pursuing comes with a little pain. The trick is not minding that it hurts.”
(Hariharan Iyer is a seasoned Motivational Speaker, Corporate Trainer and Author of multiple management books. His latest release is Off Stump – Life And Management Lessons From Cricket. He is the Founder-Creator of Hariharan’s School Of Success Education (HSSE) - www.thehsse.com. He is popularly referred to as The Enter-Trainer®. He can be reached on hariharan@thehsse.com).
