Blog

Working Towards Your Telos

Tucker was talking to me about Robert Greene last week and as usual, he gave me some perspective. He said something about the direction in which the books are going – that the apex of the series would be [redacted]. Which is a really subtle but utterly distinct way of thinking about things. I always thought that those were Robert’s books and in each one he’d said everything that he’d had to say and that was it. But Tucker is right. You’ll notice how different Power is from War, and the 50th Law will be another step. And if you look at as Robert struggling to synthesize and make sense of everything he’s learned in his life – getting a little closer each time – everything changes.

Even one of the best in the world is still changing, growing – trying to do justice to their own thoughts. If that can’t teach us humbleness and dedication, then what hope do we have?

February 29, 2008 by Ryan Holiday

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.

2 Comments

Alex February 29, 2008 at 12:43 pm

If you’re in the pursuit of something solely to be the best, I would say that you’re doing it for all of the wrong reasons. The point isn’t to be the best – the point is to find what you’re here to do, what you have the potential to be the best at out of everything you do, and do it. Often, this will make you the best.

I may be wrong in this, but the best wouldn’t be the best if they didn’t keep going, keep pushing themselves higher and further our of sheer love and willpower.

Look at Ray Bradbury for example – arguably one of the best science fictions writers of all time, and arguably the best at his own brand of short stories. He’s written hundreds upon hundreds. Yet he doesn’t do it to be the best – he does it because he loves it.

The best wouldn’t be the best if they didn’t hit their pursuit every day with renewed fervor. Keep going in what you love, and who knows, maybe someday you’ll go where no one has ever been.
Drew March 3, 2008 at 11:42 am

Man, it’s funny. I read your blog, and I often see you peppering your posts with these philosophical references (like Telos) which I would be completely ignorant of had I not gotten a traditional liberal arts education. I don’t always agree with your views, or your polemical rhetorical style, but I commend you for learning and studying on your own. I certainly wouldn’t have read Aristotle if I hadn’t had to write a paper on him.

Anyway, nice work.

Asskissing over.