Greatness is dying out.
Society is becoming more and more content with mediocrity and weakness; Nobody wants to be great and too many people are afraid of suffering and standing out from the herd of sheep. Why?
My generation is used to instant gratification, they want to see results without proper training and work.
I’ve met a countless number of students who talk about wanting an A in a class, but when I ask them how hard they study, they say they rarely study.
You clearly don’t want the A if you aren’t willing to suffer for it.
The same goes for people who go to the gym for a week and then quit, they seem to be convinced they’ll be built like the incredible hulk within a week, and when that doesn’t happen, they become frustrated, quit and join the rest of the sheep that haven’t done anything great with themselves.
The harsh reality is many adults are the same way.
They once had dreams of becoming great and prosperous, but they stopped the instant they were met with resistance or realized it would take more than a week.
Everybody has potential, but so few are willing to go through the isolation and pain it takes to harness their capacity and truly become great.
There are a plethora of reasons for this.
The most prominent being that greatness requires isolation, and isolation is absolutely crushing when everywhere you look, you notice you’re surrounded by people content with their mediocrity.
It’s not easy being the outsider with grandiose plans in a world filled with people who gave theirs up because of a lack of willpower and willingness to suffer alone and silently in the name of progress.
Friedrich Nietzsche, one of the greatest philosophers to ever live, had an effective lifestyle for somebody striving to be great and push humanity to greater heights. Nietzsche would arise at dawn and take an ice cold bath and work until around 11 a.m.
Then, he’d take a brisk walk in a nearby forest with a paper and pencil to jot down any thoughts that came to him while walking.
He then returned from his walk and ate a quick meal alone, once again jotting down his thoughts when they came to him.
He’d go for another walk and return home at around 5 p.m, then continue to work, sustaining himself on bread and tea until he’d feel extremely tired and unable to make sense of his thoughts which was at around 11 p.m.
Very few people are willing to do this, and the ones that are have to fight the urge to join the rest of the masses who secretly despise and envy them because they’re willing to do the work and climb the heights the masses wish they could.
Another harsh reality is the fact that the people originally willing to climb the heights of greatness end up cracking under the pressure of the herd and becoming one of them.
But the most devastating reason society is lacking in greatness is because of the people who like to believe the greatness of others is their greatness. The masses stand on the shoulders of giants and then claim that because the giant is great, they’re great. They constantly lie to themselves about their importance and then become angry when somebody notices that they aren’t great and just playing the part of a great man without doing the work necessary to be great.
So, take a hard look in the mirror. Look into the depths of your soul and ask yourself, are you willing to suffer and become great while you still have a chance? Or, are you going to give up your potential and join the rest of the sorry sheep standing on the shoulders of giants?
It’s your choice.
