How to Become the Best in the World

So while it's more important than ever to be the best in the world, it's also easier-if you pick the right thing and do it all the way. More places to win, and the stakes are higher, too.

So?

It's at this point that the masses rise up as one and start talking about  how obvious this all is.

"Of course I want to be number one," they cry.

But they really don't. You really don't. Sure, conceptually it makes sense to be the best in the world.

And if the best-in-the-world fairy came down and blessed you, well that would be great. But you're already trying everything you can think of to be the best in the world. You're already working as many hours as you can; you've already borrowed all the money you can; you've already tried everything you can... It's just not that easy, is it? Thinking About The Dip

The reason that being the best in the world is worth so much is that few can do it. Scarcity carries a premium. The Dip is the long slog between starting and mastery. A long slog that's actually a shortcut, because it gets you where you want to go faster than any other path. The Dip is the combination of bureaucracy and busywork you must deal with in order to get certified in scuba diving.

The Dip is the difference between the easy "beginner" technique and the more useful expert approach in skiing or fashion design. The Dip is the long stretch between beginner's luck and real accomplishment.

The Dip is the set of artificial screens set up to keep people like you out. If you took organic chemistry in college, you've experienced the Dip. Academia doesn't want too many unmotivated people to attempt medical school, so they set up a screen. Organic chemistry is the killer class,  the screen that separates the doctors from the psychologists. If you can't handle organic chemistry, well, then you can't go to med school.

At the beginning, when you announce that you're pre-med, you get all sorts of positive feedback and support. Your grandmother can't believe her good fortune! But soon, the incredible grind of organic chemistry kicks in and you realize you're doomed.

At trade shows, you see dozens of companies trying to break into an industry. They've invested time and money to build a product, create a marketing organization and rent booth space-all in an attempt to break into a lucrative market. A year later, most of them don't return. They're gone, unable to get through the Dip.

The same thing happens to people who dream of the untold riches and power that accrue to the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Private jets, fancy country clubs, unchecked decision-making power.

Who wouldn't want to live like modern-day royalty? Of course, if you look at the résumé of a typical CEO, you'll see that he endured a twenty-five-year Dip before landing the job. For a quarter of a century, he needed to suck it up, keep his head down, and do what he was told. He needed to hit his numbers, work longer hours than everyone else, and kiss up to his boss of the moment. Day in and day out, year after year.

It's easy to be a CEO. What's hard is getting there. There's a huge Dip along the way. If it was easy, there'd be too many people vying for the job and the CEOs couldn't get paid as much, could they? Scarcity, as we've seen, is the secret to value. If there weren't a dip, there'd be no scarcity.

Successful people don't just ride out the Dip. They don't just buckle down and survive it. No , they lean into the Dip. They push harder, changing the rules as they go. Just because you know you're in the Dip doesn't mean you have to happily live with it. Dips don't last quite as long when you whittle at them.

So, Here's the Big Idea

* The way you become the best in the world is by quitting the stuff where you can't be the best.

* That leaves you the resources to invest in getting through the Dip.

* It's that simple.

* Quit the dead ends and invest in the Dips.

* Blog every day for three years until your blog is #1 in its field.

* Give up your social life for a year until you make editor of the law review.

* Last six seconds longer on every single exercise in the gym until your abs actually start to grow.

Can you do everything? Of course not. Breadth isn't the point. The point is that in a world of infinite choice, in a world where the best in the world is worth more every single day, the only chance you've got is to find a Dip and embrace it. Realize that it's actually your best ally. The harder it is to get through, the better your chance of being the only one to get through it.

Sticking with something just so you can be mediocre at it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Being average is for losers. 

This article is picked up from www.changethis.com  Seth Godin is a bestselling author, entrepreneur and agent of change. Author of eight books that have been bestsellers around the world: Permission Marketing, Unleashing the IdeaVirus, The Big Red Fez, Survival is Not Enough, Purple Cow, Free Prize Inside!, All Marketers are Liars and Small is the New Big, he is also the editor of The Big Moo, founder and CEO of Squidoo and one of the most popular business bloggers. Simply, Seth Godin changes the way people think about marketing, change and work.

Issue BG86 May 08

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