I’m not completely sold on everything about his quote. I have known some very persistent people who didn’t make it. I have known many educated and bright people who squandered their genius and education like it was small change. So do you.
But, most legendary are those extraordinarily talented people who fail in spades. Talented, educated, bright people with terrible flaws that causes them to crash and burn in life. They torment me.
Coolidge’s quote will live on after my lame observations.
Tank Johnson, a powerful talented player on the Bears football team has just self destructed. Terril Owens of The Cowboys threw a tantrum and spit in a teammates face. Spoiled brats. Lack of character. Our professional sports system systematically destroys more people than it helps. This is a result of our big pay for play system in professional sports. Baseball long ago crossed this barrier. The carnage along the first base line is horrid.
What of “Real” life? I have so many examples that this could be one of Gene’s really long (ergo unread) blogs. The problem for me is all of these are real people with names and addresses and lawyers they know. It will do me no good and potential harm to talk directly of these people.
I think as I get older and I see these shipwrecks it becomes so clear to me what could have been done earlier to avoid the disasters that are left on the rocks of life. Not avoiding the conflict, avoiding the disasters.
- Marriages ill conceived
- Trysts without sense
- Skilled but without vision.
- Able but unable to draw others into the plan
Skilled and talented people who can’t do the job. They just go the easy route and hope you won’t notice.
I have been these people. The trouble with being bold and stepping out is you fail in full view of everyone else. Like our current national sweetheart, Barak Obama who represents whatever you think he does to you. I mention it because in business and life there are people who successfully do nothing and keep their head down with the hope that you might believe they know what they are doing and get away with doing nothing.
I had such a one that worked for me. The upper management of the company in telling me how good he was often said as an appellation, “He dresses well”. Like that mattered when in fact he couldn’t do the job.
Oh, they get found out eventually. Not before becoming a major disappointment. If you never do anything no can criticize you. It becomes the parable of talents not used.
Talent, Skill, Knowledge, Education, Smarts AND Persistence and just a little bit o Luck is everything.
So get it and stick with it.
No comments:
Post a Comment