The Entrepreneurial Savant

William James once wrote that men of genius differ from ordinary men not in any innate quality of the brain, but in the aims and purposes on which they concentrate and in the degree of concentration which they manage to achieve. Napoleon described it as the ability ‘to concentrate on objectives for long periods without tiring’. In Napoleon’s case, he knew he would become emperor and spent his entire life in pursuit of his destiny. Winston Churchill entered Parliament at age 23, already planning on becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain.

He did not attain his goal (though he came close many times) until the desperate hours of 1939 when War threatened his country’s very existence. That was 40 years after he entered Parliament for the first time. These leaders were able to stay focused on a single goal or objective for very long periods of time; a lifetime or even longer.

How can a goal be even longer lived than a single lifetime? Consider the builders of the great medieval cathedrals. These great monuments to the glory of God often took many generations to build and those who designed them and laid the foundations died never seeing them rise above the countryside. They knew they were creating something bigger than themselves.

I’m not suggesting you aspire to world conquest or to creating monuments for the future. What I am suggesting is that you look at what your long term goals are. By defining life goals, you give yourself a context to work in, placing your everyday activities in their proper place in your life. No success comes by accident. Everything you do leads to where you are now and in the future.

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