Ninety-nine percent of people in the world are convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for the mediocre.
The level of competition is thus fiercest for “realistic” goals, paradoxically making them the most time- and energy-consuming.
If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too.
Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.
Unreasonable and unrealistic goals are easier to achieve for yet another reason.
Having an unusually large goal is an adrenaline infusion that provides the endurance to overcome the inevitable trials and tribulations that go along with any goal. Realistic goals, goals restricted to the average ambition level, are uninspiring and will only fuel you through the first or second problem, at which point you throw in the towel.
If the potential payoff is mediocre or average, so is your effort.
The fishing is best where the fewest go, and the collective insecurity of the world makes it easy for people to hit home runs while everyone else is aiming for base hits.
There is just less competition for bigger goals.
My best advice on building an audience is to be excited about something.
Be really, really excited.
Your enthusiasm will flow into your content and do far more than any hacks or other optimizations.
And the excitement makes it easier to post more.
@garyvee Perfect's not the killer. Silence is.
@garyvee easy to say when you've got the clout. Most of us are shipping into a void with none of that reach. Show us how it's actually done in this era. Still building. Just stopped waiting for applause.
@garyvee Totally agree. Past few months building my own stuff, I've felt like I'm back in 1998-2000 era. Raw building energy is addictive. But I reckon distribution is the bottleneck, not the work itself. Have you been experimenting with coding agents @garyvee
@tonysphere Amazing what he left in all of human beings ...that impact is huge whether it's his writing or his friendships or his style or his curation or his love for photography ..We should cherish & aim to be at least 1% of what he was ..never met him but deeply painful with this news :-(
I'm convinced that 99% of success is just avoiding the traditional path at all costs. The person who gets called weird and doesn’t give a f*ck will win.
@garyvee No one. @Om's gone. People I loved are gone. And it's the same lesson every time: mortality strips away what's fake. The permission-seeking, the validation, the noise. None of it matters. We came with nothing, we'll go with nothing. That's the only clarity that lasts.
@waqasali@om Beautifully written, @waqasali Followed @om for 15 years and his thinking shaped how I see things in ways I'm only realising now. His generosity rippled far. You and me exchanged tweets and DMs back in 2014/15 when it was Markhor then, you may not remember but I do :-)
@kevinrose@om Om's writing, taste, and photography will live forever. We can all take lessons from how he lived and saw the world. Thank you, Om. Thank you to all the incredible people who cherished him. Om Shanti. May his soul rest in peace.
@garyvee After a long gap replying to your tweets @garyvee . Remembering that London event Kotecha set up many years ago. Your signed book is still here. :-) Still remember your response after I quoted you and @jasonfried
Terrible news :( I never met @om in person, but his writing at https://t.co/9QRNWfZIou shaped how I see startups and life. His clarity on tech, companies & culture was immaculate. May he rest in peace. Strength to his family & friends. Thank you, Om. Your words will live on.