Everyone Wants to be the Best

Fig. 1: An example of people who want to be the best (taken from time.com)

Everyone wants to be the best (Fig. 1). All too often, though, the expertise we thought we had pales in comparison to that of some hotshot (Fig. 2). If you've ever played a musical instrument, you'll know the feeling when someone (usually half your age) shows you "how it's done" through a performance which makes yours sound like singing in the shower. If you've ever studied science, you'll know how meeting one of those incredibly smart individuals with stunning research, grades, knowledge, age, etc. degrades your confidence. If you are someone who's working hard at some skill, surely you've been discouraged at times by bright-eyed counterparts whose seemingly effortless excellence makes you want to give up.

Through my endeavors in music, my studies in physics, and my pursuit of excellence in many other fields, I have encountered this dilemma repeatedly, and it seems that at every level of competence, there will always be someone better. Here are some of the principles I remind myself of when I get discouraged:

First of all, remember that we naturally perceive other peoples' performances as superior to ours. We are more observant of our own mistakes because we know them personally, but a superficial glimpse of someone else may not unveil their unique shortfalls.

Also, we often assume that someone's aptitude is their inherent possession instead of recognizing it as the product of hard work. Perhaps they had more time and resources to spend than I did - this doesn't make them a genius!

Thirdly, we must appreciate a person for the entire spectrum of strengths and weaknesses that makes them special. So often when exposed to the skill someone possess in a narrow field, we mistakenly use that lens to infer about areas of their life on which we have no insight!

Fig. 2: An example of a young hotshot showing you
"how it's done" (taken from johnlund.com)

We should not attempt to quantify the set of characteristics and skills that grace each human being. When discouraged by a person's success in our field, we may be imagining that - get this - their being better makes them a better being. That is to say, don't allow the fact that someone surpasses you in a skill cause you to think less of yourself as a person.

Lastly, striving for excellence can often mislead us into pursuing greatness. While this isn't necessarily wrong, it's end may be empty praise instead of practiced skill. Learning should not be rooted in a prideful appetite, for the seeds of knowledge will only sprout in a humble mind. This means that recognizing your lowliness in something you've worked hard at can serve to inspire further effort. On the contrary, what motivates learning for one who thinks to be the expert in their field already?

As the proverb reminds, the wise person has never learned enough, and the righteous person allows their deficiencies to cultivate an attitude that welcomes instruction:

"Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach the righteous man, and he will increase in learning."      ~ Proverbs 9:9