Reflections of a Survivior

In today’s highly competitive world, it is critical to be number one or at the top of your profession. It doesn’t matter what profession you are in, you need to be at the top. The difference in compensation (or money), power, fame, influence, etc. between the top few and the rest of the group (in some cases, the first and the rest) is very huge.

If you have to undergo a major surgery, who will you choose? The best surgeon in town; you will never settle for the second best when your life is at stake.

When you choose the school for your children, which one will you choose? The best school in your area; you wouldn’t want any compromises when it comes to the future of your kids.

When you want the build a house, who would you approach? The best architect you can find; building a house is a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ project for most people and we want the best value for our money.

So in most of the cases, we would settle only for the best—yes, the best that is within our reach; sometimes beyond it too. So, the top few in every profession are always busy and they become busier and busier; richer and richer… Robert Merton called this the Matthew effect.

Matthew effect is the phenomenon where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It takes its name from a line in the biblical Gospel of Matthew: “For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” — Matthew 25:29

According to Zipf’s law the number one gets 10 times the benefit of number 10 and 100 times the benefit of number 100. But real life is even more dramatic. For example, the world’s best paid authors for the year 2009 are the following (Source: Forbes Magazine):

1. J.K. Rowling ($300M)
2. James Patterson ($50M)
3. Stephen King ($45M)
4. Tom Clancy ($35M)
5. Danielle Steel ($30M)
6. John Grisham and Dean Koontz ($25M)
7. Ken Follet ($20M)
8. Janet Evanovich ($17M)
9. Nicholas Sparks ($16M)

As you can see Rowling tops the list. But what is even more interesting is that her earnings ($300M) are more than the combined earnings of the rest ($263M). No wonder everyone wants to become as successful as JKR!

In the book “Ignore Everybody” Hugh MacLeod says “Don’t try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.” He advocates finding a profession or even creating one, where you have a huge advantage that will prevent others from even trying to compete with you. And if someone tries, then that person will have to climb the same mountain you have climbed and as you still are scaling greater heights (by working hard and improving your skills), it will be nearly impossible to catch up with you. It means creating your own niche and then establishing you in a way that new entrants (future competitors) don’t have a chance to survive.

In the book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell says that many outliers (Bill Gates, Bill Joy, Steve Jobs, Beetles, etc.) had more than 10,000 hours of experience in their chosen profession—in the case of Gates and Joy it was programming, for Jobs it was making computers, and for Beetles it was performing on stage—so they could grab and forge ahead at a speed that nobody could match, when the opportunity came knocking.

In the book Dip, Seth Godin asks you to quit as soon as you find out what you are doing is not your dream or passion. According to him, the saying “winners never quit” is quite absurd. According to Godin, winners quit fast, quite often, and quit without guilt—until they come to the right profession or career. Once they find out their niche they will work so hard and become the best. Once you become number one in your niche, you’ll get more than your fair share of profits, glory, and long-term security.

So find out your calling and then work hard, become the best, make your own luck, and become the top guy in your field. I wish you all the very best…