Learning from the best + Blood, Sweat and Tears

The best in their fields are rarely products of the system for everybody. They mostly go through their own paths. No system can develop an individual better than taking personal needs into account in the best possible way. Often they want to share their path with others or someone else wants to know the secret to their success. With this, you can get better too. This can happen in many different ways. Learn from the opportunity if you get one. Today, the easiest option is to take advantage of videos, interviews, or books.

If you want to get to the top then you can’t gather advice from mediocre people. Not even good individuals can help you with that. Focus only on the information provided by top individuals. Absolute best is often difficult to measure. It can be considered a matter of taste. A good gauge e.g. the arts have sales volumes and sums of money from individual works. Don’t copy one hit wonders but the ones that have been at the top for a long time. Without long-term success, it can only be about happiness. Explore talent from many different fields. Often, many things unite many things. The clearest examples are a passion for an object of interest and following one’s own path. In addition to them, there are many other commonalities, but they are the most important.

It is easy for you to follow the development paths of the champions in your field today. You can find a lot of their interviews on the internet. They have shared their life through biographies as well. Autobiographies are the best options. Two of the best I have read are ”Open” from Andre Agassi and ”On Writing” by Stephen King On Writing. They tell about how their thoughts on their lives and professions have been thrown from one emotional state to another. The failures that are necessary for everyone are best highlighted in autobiographies. They are widely available from libraries or at low prices online.

Blood, sweat and tears

Staying put is not your problem if you are happy with your situation and are able to arrange it so that you do not have any problems. Today, this is not easy. Escape from your comfort zone often enough if you want to move forward. This may not require extra work from you but new ways of doing things. Without resistance, there will be no development. It occurs in many forms and can be divided into external and internal resistance. Development often happens by hitting your head on the wall over and over again until you succeed.

Your ego is your biggest problem when you stay put. Going to areas of discomfort is your biggest hurdle. It makes you believe you don’t need a change. You are often the victim of your habits. Routines wire your brain without you noticing. You’ll have a hard time getting up if you’ve been staying on your couch for a long time. You need to transcend yourself and endure a certain amount of pain in order to develop into excellence. Top athletes have to put everything and a little extra into the game. Few are willing to go far enough. However, development requires crossing your borders in one way or another. It requires a head-on struggle. It is not a question of quantity but of power. Increasing the amount of exercise above a certain point does not help because the limits of development come into play.

Your battle inside your head can also be due to pressure from your environment and friends. It can also be called external pressure, but you decide how you feel about it. The most important way to reduce external pressure is to find out the reasons for the opposition. If your changes don’t suit everyone then reduce their company. External pressures can also become unknown. For some, this pressure is easier to deal with, but it is unique. You need to understand that you cannot live up to the expectations of others if you want to get the most out of your life. In the world of pioneers, the resistance is tougher because no one has done the same things before. By pioneers I mean e.g. top scientists and record-breaking athletes.

Understand that development is not just an uphill but it includes downhills and long journeys on a flat. Many times running towards the wall often makes the mind quit as well. Sometimes you should go around the wall or try a completely different route. Failure in one battle does not mean losing the war. Setbacks are necessary because without them you may never try in the most sensible way. They can hurt, but still don’t give up. That is the surest way to fail. You can prepare for setbacks mentally, physically, and financially. The masters and pioneers in their field have always been a little crazy and have suffered from it.

The lives of the mediocre people can be much easier and recommended for many. The crazy often do more and going to the frontiers of nonsense can produce disasters. However, don’t underestimate them because they are moving the world forward. You learn well from failures, so don’t be afraid of them. They will be for everyone. How you react to them will determine your future success.

Everybody has intelligence

Not all people are endowed with the same intellectual gifts. You may not be aware of your strengths but focus on things you don’t benefit from. Utilizing ingenuity is easier than ever. You can make yourself more easily known to the public, e.g. Via Youtube. This means e.g. an easier and more lucrative path for the best musicians and other performers. The flip side of the coin is the increase in the number of competitors. The following sections are intended to explain to you how strength ranges or intelligences can be broken down. The division makes them easier to understand. Intelligence can be divided in many different ways. In the book, I use seven different types of intelligence from Harward Professor Howard Gardner. They give a clear picture of people’s intelligence. You can be smart in many ways. Different intelligences are not mutually exclusive. Gardner's intelligences are:

• Logical-mathematical

• Linguistic

• Musical

• Bodily-kinesthetic

• Spatial

• Interpersonal

• Intrapersonal

Logically-mathematically intelligent people analyze problems logically, know how to use math, and study things scientifically. Such intelligence is most favored at the expense of others. Unfortunately, many of the gifted in this area are put to solve problems for which they do not have enough intelligence.

Linguistic intelligence describes the ability to understand and produce both spoken and written language fluently. Learning foreign languages is also easier. Lawyers, speakers, writers, and poets are linguistically average. Such genius is emphasized in education in Finland. The Finnish way of teaching foreign languages ​​through grammar may not be right, because the most important thing abroad, i.e. speaking a foreign language, is forgotten.

Musical intelligence means being able to perform music either by playing or singing and understanding how well someone else practices their musicality. Gardner believes this is the most questionable area of intelligence because he says musicality is close to linguistic genius.

Physically intelligent people have the ability to use a body or part of it to solve problems. Physically gifted are certain top athletes, such as gymnasts. Good builders, surgeons, and mechanics are also physically gifted.

Spatially intelligent refers to the ability to detect and manipulate large or smaller spaces. The rulers of large spaces are e.g. pilots and air traffic controllers. Rulers of smaller forms can be found e.g. sculptors, chess players and architects.

Intrapersonally intelligent people are able to understand the intentions, motivations, desires of others and are good at working with other people. The best examples are good salesmen, teachers, nurses, politicians and Actors. Their role in society is often underestimated, even though you are helpless without social skills. My personal opinion of Finns is that we are not socially talented. This may be due in part to teaching us to believe in it.

Interpersonally intelligent people feel good about themselves are able to understand themselves, create the behaviors that are best for them, understand their desires, fears and abilities. They take advantage of the above to regulate their lives for the best they see fit. I consider this skill to be the most important.

Defining the seven intelligences is not the only right way. More important than considering the accuracy of the classification is to evaluate how different forms of intelligence describe you. If you are a complete failure in some intelligence then you should learn how to improve it. It doesn’t become your strength even with hard training. It will make your life a lot easier as your biggest problems will diminish. Only the things you are really talented can get the most out of with the least amount of input. Of course, the smart ones have to practice. Becoming good requires less practice from them. Invest in things where you are the smartest. You get the most out of them. No one is intelligent in everything. Do not strive for the best in all things. It reduces your overall benefits and you do unnecessary work. It makes sense to move from a full-length to a mediocre one, because then you get great benefits with less investment.

You should always invest in self-knowledge. Without understanding oneself, one does not know one’s areas of strength and punches one’s head in the wall unnecessarily. Examples of this are singers aspiring to compete in Idols, who sound like they are scratching a metal surface with a screwdriver. When one of the judges tells the truth then it is left unbelievable and barked by the professionals. Self-knowledge also helps when you are praised in vain by loved ones. Unnecessary praise can cause great harm. Don’t neglect to develop this skill. You can take it for granted, but it’s not for everyone.