Step

47

Don’t step up. Don’t do extraordinary things

So as we near the end of this guide you now know what it takes to be a complete and utter fuck-up. But here is one almost final thought for you to contemplate. Are life’s success stories about extraordinary people doing extraordinary things or are they about ordinary people doing extraordinary things? Are they about extraordinary businesses doing extraordinary things or plain, ordinary businesses doing extraordinary things?

Here is how someone extremely bright once summed it up: “In my view, wherever you find success, you will find some ordinary person, like you or me, who decided to raise the bar. An individual or an organisation who said, ‘We are going to be the best we can be.’ The key is they chose something that they really, I mean really, wanted to do, come hell or high water. We may think of people like Olympic athletes as the only ones who come from this mould, but that’s not the case. Olympians may only train for four years; the people I’m talking about often train for a lifetime to reach their goals. They have even more discipline than some of the greatest sports stars. More commitment than all but a few. A bigger dream than most. A real sense of purpose and meaning. A passion, fire, energy and enthusiasm pervades everything they do. At the start, there are many things they can’t do, but they are prepared to learn. To do whatever it takes. Yet they seek out the maximum amount of fun and enjoyment as they travel the road towards realising their dreams. That’s very easy because they don’t ever feel like they’re striving for something, only ever stretching. So stress is something they don’t suffer from much. Besides, they believe in the old saying, ‘It’s better to travel than arrive.’ However, they are very careful who they choose as their travelling companions. They’ve come to realise that life is an obstacle course, not a competition. To be successful and happy someone else doesn’t have to lose for them to win. You may think these people are rare, special or somehow gifted. Or just plain lucky. I know differently. Look around you. Put away your excuses. Open your eyes a little wider and you’ll see these are plain, ordinary people. They just decided they deserved to lead extraordinary lives.”

“Olympians may only train for four years; the people I’m talking about often train for a lifetime to reach their goals.”

I don’t know if you know who said that. Actually, it was me. Not a bad summary of all the feel-good claptrap you mustn’t listen to if you wish to fuck up. What I didn’t quite manage to cram into the above would be a final thought on the choice between apathy or action (to be honest, I couldn’t really be bothered). Apathy or action? One of these will get you everything you deserve. What is it you deserve again?