Being The Best vs Being A Good Human
What’s the point of being the best at your craft but having a shitty character? I never thought about it until last week.
There is this guy in the Skydiving sport. He is really good at what he does and people say that he’s a ‘legend’. I mean I don’t know the guy but kudos to him. I heard stories about him, mostly negative about his character but very positive about his skillset as an instructor.
Last week I was at the dropzone where he works to do a course and he was there. We barely know each other really, we barely say ‘hello’ to each other. He gossiped about something that happened to me at the dropzone. It made me feel so disappointed and discouraged that I didn’t actually do a jump that day, and decided never to go back to that dropzone. There are 29 dropzones in the UK. Surely I’m not missing anything.
I heard stories from Skydivers that were his students and this guy never really talks with anyone as he considers himself a ‘Skydiving God’. His attitude seems to be that he thinks he is the one and only, and he looks down on everyone and judges people.
On my way back to London I was thinking, what’s the point of being the best at what you do if you have a shitty personality?
You can be David Beckham, you can be Celine Dion, you can be any global star in the world but what kind of human being are you really? It made me think because I was and still am obsessed in becoming the best version of myself and becoming the best at brand purpose, storytelling and making marketing with impact.
A couple of years ago I used to value or look up to a lot of successful people, and by successful people I mean what society says is a success; wealth. I used to admire that. A couple of years later, I don’t anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I still value wealth and I admire people that build successful brands but I admire people that build all that plus are doing great things. But I don’t put them on a pedestal.
I admire people with courage, people that are making a positive impact in this world.
Two weeks ago an acquaintance send me a message on WhatsApp and told me he wants to meet up and run an idea by me. The guy is a millionaire and runs some hotels in London. We agreed on a date and I said I would pop in into his hotel. I arrived 5 minutes early and he wasn’t there. I send him a text asking him if he was in. I got no response. It’s been two weeks and he still hasn’t replied. I understand things happen but it wasn’t the first time he’s done it.
What is the point of all that success if you don’t have manners?
I was watching an Instagram story recently and a friend got pulled over by the police (I guess sports cars get pulled over a lot). His friend was filming and shouted at the police guy the following words: “Hey prick, this guy is making in a day what you make in a year”. I mean most probably it’s true, as that friend is well off financially and runs a successful business but what is the point of shouting at a police guy who is doing his job?
On the contrary, I have another friend that runs a successful business in Central London and is well off financially. He is not the best at what he does and people don’t know him for his talent like our Skydiving instructor that is over himself but he has the kindest heart. The things he’s done and the people he helps just because he is a very kind human being. I can write a whole book about the kind things he does. I’m amazed by his kindness and thoughtfulness and I would do anything to help him because he’s just the best human and he deserves the best.
Another example is my Skydiving instructor Junior. I mean, I wrote a whole article saying how great he is as an instructor but most importantly he is a very good human being. He cares about his students, he doesn’t look down on you. One day I was talking with someone on a dropzone and I mentioned that my instructor is Junior and the guy said to me that he did some coaching jumps with him and he was amazing, but he is not just a good instructor, he is a very good human being. And I think this is the whole point, being the best at what you do and being a great human being.
There are different people in this world. Global icons, talented people, wealthy people, kind people, and generous people. I think it’s important to ask ourselves what do we want to be? What do we value? Do we want to be like that Skydiving prick that is the best at what he does but has no character and most people don’t like him (except instructors of course), or do we want to be a kind human being with a kind heart and a generous soul?
At the end of the day, we need to ask ourselves one important question:
“What do we want to be remembered as?”
I definitely want to be the best in the world at what I do, but I do want to be the most kind, generous person as well. We can be both, and we can see from the Skydiving prick instructor and a Skydiving legend instructor. It’s not a choice. We can be the best at what we do and we can be good human beings.
