We tell stories of gods, superheroes, and mortals who channeled something greater.
In the Icarus Effect, Seth Godin explains the Japanese word “Kamiwaza” can roughly be translated to “godlike”, to have the traits of a god, or a superhuman feat.
We read of Achilles, the greatest of the Greek warriors in the Trojan war, watched movies of the 300 Spartans who fought to the death against roughly 100,000 Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae and watched Lebron James in real life train to become a one of the best in the league.
Although many thought to be supernatural are dead, the phrase lives eternally in modern-day companies and innovators who bring that intensity with them to work every day.
Those are the people who make an impact.
We grow up telling children stories to instill the mindset that you can truly do anything.
That if you train, you put in your 10,000 hours, you can become godlike to others.
It’s like watching a child look up to a seven foot, absolutely ripped professional athlete in awe.
To the child, it’s surreal magic. To the player, it’s a lifetime of hard work, dedication, and sacrifice.
But it’s not like that in the beginning.
For any creative, any athlete, and most workers, your trade’s first couple of years are the hardest.
Rapper J-Cole talked about his version of Kamiwaza in what he considers one of his best songs, “False Prophets.”
“I write what’s in my heart, don’t give a fuck who fuckin with it
But in a sense I can relate, the need to be great
Turns into an obsession and keeps a [expletive] up late
Writin words, hopin people observe the dedication
That stirs in you constantly”
You have to take chances. Step out of your comfort zone. Take risks that could make you look foolish and stay hungry.
It’s easy to keep your head down, do the minimum to get by, and feed yourself excuses why you shouldn’t pursue projects that you know would work.
That’s the biggest danger: not taking chances and failing, but never pulling the trigger on the ideas you believe in.
If you write a book, short story, or song and it flops, at least you’ll know, and you can apply lessons learned to future endeavors.
If you never act, you’ll never know whether the idea was successful. Average people aren’t remembered.
You’re afraid someone will ridicule your idea, or drag you on twitter.
But no one will be more critical of you as you are of yourself.
“You can dream, but don’t neglect the execution” -Ari Lennox