What It Takes To Be Great

by John R. SedivycloseAuthor: John R. Sedivy Name: John R. Sedivy
Email: john@capecodbranding.com
Site: http://www.capecodbranding.com
About: See Authors Posts (216)

The other day I watched the movie Alexander, which is a take on the life of Alexander The Great – if you haven’t seen this movie – check it out, it’s definitely worth your time. Although it did not fair well in the reviews this is one of the movies that you can learn something from if you are receptive to it.

Although this is a good movie filled with great acting, an amazing story, and nice special effects – two things stood out among others:

1. Fortune favors the bold
2. The failures of Alexander the Great towered over other men’s successes

I will discuss each in greater detail.

Fortune Favors The Bold
This is the underlying theme of the movie and the life of Alexander the Great – he was a bold man, therefore fortune favored him. No risk no reward. This is not to say that he did not fail at times, or did not suffer miserably at other points – as he did both. However, his failures and pain were offset by amazing triumphs. Succeed big, fail big.

He had seen much that no other person in the Greek culture had at that point when conquering the Persian Empire. In failing to take India he had seen and experienced much that no other had during that time. He thought big, having a stated goal of reaching the “ends of the world and the Greater Outer Sea” and achieved much. Fortune does indeed favor the bold!

Failures That Tower Success
Alexander the Great was not afraid to fail. His successes pushed him onward and he kept pressing onward even when the majority was prompting him to quit. However, his failures towered over other men’s successes. By risking much and losing much, he had accomplished what no other had at the time and unified much of the known world spreading Greek influence. Others risked little and as a result had small successes, these successes are trumped by the failures of much bigger leaders.

What We Can Learn
So we should take these two lessons with us. Be bold. Persist when others tell you to stand down. One of my favorite anonymous quotes nicely presents this idea:

“Excellence can only be attained if you care more than others think is wise, risk more than others think is safe, dream more than others think is practical, and expect more than others think is possible.”

Risk big, win big. Big is a relative term, but it should be more than the average person – or outside of your comfort zone.

Concerning failure – consider this. Is your life a continuous string of successes, one after the other? Have you never known failure? If so, are you proud that you have never failed? Most would feel pride at this idea. However I am asking you to consider another point of view. If you haven’t known the taste of defeat, I would argue that your goals are not big enough. You haven’t risked enough to win big. You are not using your full potential.

On the other hand, you should not fail at everything you do – if you are constantly failing, your current goals may not be achievable at this point in your life. Like most aspects of life there is a happy medium. Achieve enough success to fuel future growth and success. Fail enough to learn from your mistakes and make yourself a stronger person. Failing also helps you to know your limits. Know yourself.

In closing I ask that you become bold. Boldness attracts success and other bold individuals – you will gain the respect of others and increase your self confidence and others will gain confidence in you and your abilities. Practicing boldness and achieving resulting success will ensure your failures tower over the successes of other men – and you will have what it takes to be great!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding

Filed under John's Articles, Personal Developement | Comment (1)