Ode to wasted talent…travels in Tunisia

I am in Tunis, Tunisia this weekend speaking at AIESEC’s MENA (Middle East and North Africa) graduates associations annual meeting.

The theme of the meeting is: “it is up to you…”

Preparing for my speech – I went through old blogs that I had posted …. and following up on yesterdays “consistency is a choice..” I re-post this one.

Yesterday, might have been our biggest readership to date – with people in 24 countries reading the blog….ideally, even if you work at a competitor, no matter what country or culture you come from … ideally, this blog is helping you reflect and climb higher.

this blog was posted in Januay, but I like the theme so i re-post it…

Everyone knows at least one person (maybe even the reader) whom is exceptionally talented, but is not the best at whatever he/she is doing…they really want to be successful, but they are not even close to being as great as they could be because ….being consistent, loyal and focused …through the good times as well as bad times is f…ing difficult.

This morning, I received an email from an old University buddy in America informing me that a close friend of mine when I was in University, Ron had died.

Ron was definately one of the most talented/intelligent people I have ever known, but…

….he was always looking for a short cut to the top of the mountain.

Not to mention, he was one of the best at talking about what he was going to do “tomorrow.”

Ron is the ultimate example of someone that was super talented, should have been/could have been a business leader, but did not achieve close to his abilities….

(Ron never worked for me) But observing from the outside, he would start a job….do well, but then once it became difficult he would quit and search for the next big opportunity …. it was like he would climb part way up his mountain, only to turn around and walk back down once the climb became a challenge.

A super talented, hyper intelligent man – but never achieved even close to his talents.

How many incredibly talented people in the world – go through life wasting their talents and abilities because being consistent, loyal and focused …through the good times as well as bad times is f…ing difficult???

This entry is very somber – but seriously – maybe one or two people reading it will get inspired to wake up, stop letting stupid/superfiscial things get in the way of their focus and achieve and climb higher…

and this week …. even if you are not on my team…. I challenge you to take your focus to the next level and do not let anything get in the way of where you want to go.

it is up to you….

make your success happen.