Based on a journal entry written on June 8th, 2020.

I wonder about what it would take to become a “great person”.

I mean someone who is great at what they do. Among the best in the world. Pushing the boundaries of what’s been done before. Thinking of novel ideas or applications.

Thinking

How much do they think about being great?

They must know their skills are elite, but they didn’t think their path to greatness. They were too busy doing the things that made them who they became. They didn’t plot it, because they would have spent too much time plotting instead of doing.

Basketball players were on the court, studying basketball, or exercising. Software developers were programming, reading specs, or trying out new tech. Writers were writing, reading, or coming up with ideas.

Most People

Most people aren’t great. Most people who are working out, programming, or writing aren’t going to be great.

Competition is very high for greatness. It requires a conflux of skills, dedication, and luck that most people can’t muster.

Most people just have to find pride in whatever they do. It may not push boundaries or be novel. It might be menial work that just pays the bills.

That’s completely acceptable, but we should still strive to be our best.

Vision and Control

Without a vision of something great and possible, it can be hard to push yourself. However, even if you have that vision, you can’t do anything unless you take action.

By all means, refine your vision, but spend time doing things. You will refine your vision more quickly by learning from your actions and making adjustments.

You have control over what you do. You don’t have control over whether it will be great. You can only set yourself up for the chance. Even if it’s not great in the end, you can be proud in the attempt.

Focus

Greatness requires focus.

Spending a third of your time writing, programming, and playing basketball won’t make you a great writer, software developer, or basketball player. You might become acceptably good at each of them, which is fine too.

There is some cross over between activities. Writing can benefit software development as you get better at expressing ideas. Being physically fit has mental benefits.

The adage about 10,000 hours holds. Every hour spent not practicing the correct skills delays the path to greatness. There are only so many hours in a day, week, month, and year.

Me

I’ll never be a great writer. Mentally, I’m just not all there for it. I have few original ideas. I have difficulty recalling words. The natural talents just didn’t coalesce.

I still want to become an okay writer. I wrote daily for about 6 months last year. Hopefully, I can bring that habit back. That hope is part of why I have this meager blog.

I’ll never be a great programmer. I hope to continue to create some things that I’m proud of.

I’ve made several things I’m proud of, but fully recognize that they aren’t great:

  • Movdeez
  • Trivdeez
  • Reiterable
  • DNFWS - a game I’m making that I don’t currently have public
  • Forsaken Plans - a game I made many years ago that has congealed into a pile of technical debt that I probably won’t ever fix

I’ll also never be a great basketball player. I don’t even own a basketball.