“There is a real danger in believing it when people use the word ‘genius’— and it’s even more dangerous when we let hubris tell ourselves we are one. The same goes for any label that comes along with a career: are we suddenly a ‘filmmaker,’ ‘writer,’ ‘investor,’ ‘entrepreneur,’ or ‘executive’ because we’ve accomplished one thing? These labels put you at odds not just with reality, but with the real strategy that made you successful in the first place. From that place, we might think that success in the future is just the natural next part of the story— when really it’s rooted in work, creativity, persistence, and luck.”
More from Ryan Holiday
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“You've got to cultivate people around you who are not afraid to tell you the truth.”