Chasing GOATs
The movie Amadeus exquisitely portrays the struggle someone with talent (Salieri) has when confronted by the astonishing genius of Mozart. You can have the most incredible lucky breaks and the toughest work ethic imaginable but you can never be the Greatest Of All Time if you don’t have the gift of innate talent. Some of us can put in exhaustive hours slaving over essays and studying for exams while our roommate majors in amusements and last-minute glances through textbooks. His A grade comes with a side of beer and debauchery while yours comes with insanely tenacious work and gallons of late-night coffee.
Chasing GOATs
This curse of mediocrity.
Salieri’s progeny
labor in obscurity,
striving yet another day,
railing at the celestial knaves
who wrote this play.
Please don’t fall into that mental state.
A desire for greatness without the inborn talent can seem like a curse. No matter the category – sports, music, art, writing, whatever – for the people without that rare spark of exceptionality there can be emotional consequences. Negative self-talk can silence the awareness of all the talent they do have. Jealousy can sour their attitude towards life in general.
On the other hand, those who feel admiration and appreciation for the great ones can be freed from chains of self-deprecation to ascend to their own level of greatness (however it is defined). Please don’t ever feel mediocre. Never give up on your passion, no matter if it stays in your personal space or reaches the entire world. Why? Because if you don’t practice your passion at some level you will always feel an empty spot in your life that you cannot fill with something else: The itch you cannot scratch.
(Aside: If your passion is something that brings harm to others, disregard everything I just wrote…except for the mediocre moniker.)
As for the GOATs, their lives aren’t all frolics in the sunshine. Just ask Mozart. And all the famous people who struggle with addiction, depression, and breakdowns. Sometimes it’s the GOAT who feels cursed.
Now a question: Who do we have to thank for the term The Greatest Of All Time? Muhammad Ali? LL Cool J? It seems hollow because All Time keeps getting longer and records keep getting broken so the term is questionable. With the speed of information transmission and social media, there can only be GOTHMs, Greatest Of This Hot Minute. Maybe we could add another label that celebrates effort. SHEEP: Super Human Exceptional Effort Person. With GOATs perceived as leaders and SHEEP perceived as followers, I betcha the desire to chase the title of SHEEP wouldn’t make it onto the bucket list. Or would it? Witness the marathoner who crosses the finish line in record time vs. the runner on crutches who crosses it 12 hours later. One is following the other but which acronym is actually the greater?
Social media and marketing can put a spin on anything. Wouldn’t it be fun if they met a challenge to create a campaign turning SHEEP into a badge of pride? Just think of where it could be used to praise effort over outcome:
For students, athletes, employees, creatives, scientists, volunteers, service workers, on and on. The list encompasses just about every field of endeavor. It would open the tent to multitudes where they feel welcome, appreciated, at home. Different from a participation prize, which dilutes the SHEEP concept of reward for extreme effort, it could incentivize the disengaged to goose their effort in pursuit of belonging.
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