Being good vs Being best
I first started thinking about this a few years ago when I had a convoluted sense of who I wanted to be. While we can easily get caught up in the social semantics of the argument (mostly an argument between me and myself - yeah that actually happens a lot) I believe there is a stance that’s developed over the years which I have taken rather to heart - despite the fact I need constant reminding.
It’s rather simple to look at ambition positively. It can be a profoundly powerful motivator. In many theatres, we recognize the bravery and proposed dedication of such a statement.
When I think of being the best, I imagine being peerless, a figure the community surrounding could recognise as the greatest in whatever particular field we’re talking; poker, championship badminton, Haitian drink mixing, maybe even llama theatre. The concept relies on relativity. To be the best, one must be better than others.
I attended a lecture recently (I know, rare) concerned with the practicality of such a mindset.
I left rolling around a single idea in my head; To follow a mindset of being the “best” has been completely allowing myself to be moulded in a supremely negative way by the work and achievements of others. A folding torrent of outdoing one another, competing on the same road (I’m thinking Mad Max on a congested suburban street). I detect a sense of constriction, a sense of casting creativity to bullets rather than anything remotely constructive. I’m not entirely happy with that thought.
Why are we so concerned with being the best? I believe the concept is born almost entirely from our billowing egotism.
As someone who formally had an ego the size of Texas, it takes a lot of work, focus and change to be able to take control and shift that mindset. Particularly in a world that glorifies the human ego. The tools we have access to allow individuals to benefit from their individual character or presentation in ways unimaginable 200 years ago. It’s made the realm of ‘celebrity’ most frighteningly accessible.
I am not at all against the concept of celebrity. Quite the opposite in fact. It’s a foundational tool in any society to have individuals who are in possession of admirable talent, skill or characteristics that reflect desirable attributes. Throughout history, we’ve had heroes, for good reason.
What we have misplaced is the filter, the rigour and meaning of what it once was. The bar of entry in this hyper-transparent world has been set so low for what celebrity is that the once essential prerogatives are discarded. I mean how frightening is the phrase, “they are famous for being famous.”
Within this Mad Max-Llama Theatre-ratrace, we have also lost (we’re losing a lot aren’t we) our sense of application. Where once we had a medium, interest or purpose in which we endeavoured, such as writing or athletics, we now often see ‘fame’ arising within the crafting of an “individual.”
The individuals we look up to, allow to inspire us and encourage us, should be chosen wisely and with conscious awareness. Like any change, I believe it begins with us.
It is not about discarding ambition but rather allowing it to unfold upon a pathway of your own. Being better than we were yesterday and better again tomorrow. It’s the people that can exist within that realm, of perseverance and dedication to self-improvement and progression, to a good life, that really achieve and create the most creatively unique and sublime of work.
Focus on being GOOD at what you do. That’s the only way to actually become the best.
