1. Kunle Omoshola
[2020/07/13 15:16:51 JST(UTC+09:00)]
Today I would like to talk about how people may appear to be striving to become "number one" in their field, but it may be untrue.
Let's think about professional athletes, for example.
Do you think they are working hard to become "number one"?
You may say, yes, of course they are!
Then, ask yourself following two questions:
Question #1: Suppose you have power to make the abilities of everyone else in the world inferior to yours. Would you use the power?
Question #2: Suppose you can choose from environments where everyone else underperforms you, and where everyone else outperforms you. Which one would you like to live in?
I'm quite sure that any professionals will never think of using such power and choosing the former environment, despite how much they appear to be working so hard to become"number one".
If your goal is truly to become "number one", it means that you wouldn't hesitate using the power, and choose the former environment.
However, what the professionals are really going after is the "ideal self", and not the status of being "number one" in comparison with others.
My answer is quite simple.
Being "number one" is just a scale.
It's just like a scale for measuring your weight.
What is the purpose of using a scale?
It's not that we want to know how much we weigh.
We want to know if our diet or the amount of exercise has been appropriate so that we can plan for the next.
Why do we want to lose or gain weight?
Weighing certain kilograms is not what we are aiming for.
We do it to make ourselves more appealing, or to keep ourselves healthy, for example.
In other words, the reason we care about the "rank" is not because we want to become "number one", but because we can use it as a milestone for planning what you should do next.
What we should go after is to enter the state of completely immersing ourselves in what we are doing, and to sometimes check if your direction we are heading by immersing ourselves in something is correct.
I think that's all we need to do.
Yoshiharu Habu (Professional Shogi Player)
"I've been doing all the way along is to completely focusing on each game I'm in."
"I am in a world where only thing I need to do is to get better, rather than doing things like trying to know how my rivals play. I think it's the way it should be, or the path every professional should take."
Kei Nishikori (Professional Tennis Player)
"Just do the best you can do, without thinking about going up or down in the rank."
To tell you the truth, I understand how you feel.
You may think how wonderful the world would be if everyone else on the earth is inferior to you, and you are always number one in everything.
If the world was like that, nobody would make fun of you, or you never need to feel inferior to anyone.
Even if you are this kind of person, however, you are not actually striving to become "number one" either.
What you are aiming for is a world where you never have to get hurt, and where you can satisfy the desire to control everyone else.
It's not that you really want to be "number one".
It's just the way I myself also used to misunderstand.
If you agree with it, send it to a friend or share it on SNS!
Martin Luther King, Jr.
"The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people."
1. Kunle Omoshola
[2020/07/13 15:16:51 JST(UTC+09:00)]
2. Fully Hatter
[2020/07/13 16:20:10 JST(UTC+09:00)]
3. Godless 1
[2020/08/04 20:15:54 JST(UTC+09:00)]
4. Fully Hatter
[2020/08/06 17:35:14 JST(UTC+09:00)]
5. Godless 1
[2020/08/07 21:43:27 JST(UTC+09:00)]
6. Fully Hatter
[2020/08/07 22:00:46 JST(UTC+09:00)]
7. Godless 1
[2020/08/08 21:21:34 JST(UTC+09:00)]
8. Fully Hatter
[2020/08/09 07:23:54 JST(UTC+09:00)]
Comment here, and Fully Hatter will reply with affection.