Best in the World

My first professor in college told me something that I’ve thought about a lot since. He said although we’d probably never heard of him or cared about what he’d dedicated himself to studying (15th century political institutions in Zürich), it didn’t matter because at the end of the day, he knew that he knew more about the subject than anyone else on the planet. He was the best in the world.

The Executive has taught me a lot about that. He got tired of muddling around with actors and their huge egos – people that you’ve certainly heard of. He’s done with that. He only wants to work on things that have the chance to be THE best. Anything else he leaves for other people. And if you look at him and Tucker and Robert, they really have very little in common other than that in what they do, no one else can touch them. It’s a whole different wavelength.

That’s what I am working for. The rest I’ll figure out later. It’ll be a good problem to have.

Written by Ryan Holiday
Ryan Holiday is the bestselling author of Trust Me, I’m Lying, The Obstacle Is The Way, Ego Is The Enemy, and other books about marketing, culture, and the human condition. His work has been translated into thirty languages and has appeared everywhere from the Columbia Journalism Review to Fast Company. His company, Brass Check, has advised companies such as Google, TASER, and Complex, as well as Grammy Award winning musicians and some of the biggest authors in the world. He lives in Austin, Texas.