With age comes wisdom. At least, it should. It is the wisdom of experience and the wisdom of learning from others’ experiences. I like how Oliver Wendell Holmes eloquently put it:
The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.
Knowing the rules does not guarantee greatness. It only rescues you from failure (assuming you follow them). But when you reach the point when you know the exceptions to the rules – that is when to break the rules or go against tradition or trends – then you are likely to achieve greatness (assuming you have the guts to pursue the exceptions).
Attaining such wisdom has nothing to do with age but everything to do with the maturity of your knowledge. And such maturity is gained by passionately pursuing opportunities to learn from the wisdom of experience. Continually read books, blogs, and articles so that you might learn from the failures and success stories of others. Find a mentor. A good mentor can give you a lifetime of experience in a matter of months. If you do, you will gain wisdom beyond your years.
Michael Jordan is considered by many to be the greatest basketball player of all time. But his road to success has come a long way since he was cut from his high school basketball team. He once shared his secret to greatness:
Heart is what separates the good from the great.
Natural ability will make you good. Big budgets will make you good. Fantastic marketing will make you good. But it takes heart to be great. Greatness lies in diligence, perseverance, and drive. Greatness lies in the intangibles.
Heart is never content but always pushes you to a greater level. Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, explains:
Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life.
Just because you experience a sales success or management success or any success, don’t trade your heart for contentment. Greatness does not come in the leap of one sole success, but it comes from the inching forward of one success after another.
Heart is not about comparing yourself to others but about comparing yourself to your past. It is about constant self-improvement. There will always be someone smarter than you, stronger than you, and faster than you. But your heart will determine how you measure up in the long run. Your heart is your key to greatness.
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What’s this blog about?
I enjoy helping organizations become more effective and successful. There is no niche that holds all the answers, but I will be focusing most of my posts on the areas of design, leadership, management, marketing, technology, and culture.
