{"id":1159,"date":"2009-11-05T08:23:52","date_gmt":"2009-11-05T16:23:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=1159"},"modified":"2013-08-21T08:49:46","modified_gmt":"2013-08-21T16:49:46","slug":"how-to-become-great","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-become-great\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Become Great"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p><\/p>\n<p>If you have plans on becoming great, you&#8217;ll want to read this brief article.<\/p>\n<p>They say success leaves clues;\u00a0this implies, &#8220;if we look at people who are great, we&#8217;d find a common denominator, a golden thread tying them all together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Here&#8217;s what I think we&#8217;d find:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;d find people who discovered their talent and then showcased that talent to the world in a\u00a0&#8220;new&#8221; and creative way.<\/p>\n<p>Most of the people we&#8217;d find wouldn&#8217;t be doing anything &#8220;new.&#8221;\u00a0 They would be doing something that&#8217;s been done before, in a &#8220;new&#8221; and unique way.<\/p>\n<p><strong>There&#8217;s nothing new under the sun<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Take Thomas Edison the inventor of the everyday light bulb as an example; many scientist of his day knew that a heated piece of carbon filament would produce a light.\u00a0 However, the light would only last for a brief moment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8230;So what did Edison do?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Did Edison come up with a new idea?\u00a0 No; Edison improved upon an existing idea through creativity and concentration, by finding a carbon filament that would burn for over 1500 hours if enclosed in an oxygen free case.\u00a0 It wasn&#8217;t a new idea, but his improvement on an existing idea made him great, while most people don&#8217;t even remember who invented the first electric light bulb.\u00a0 It was Humphry Davy back in 1800, in case you were wondering.<\/p>\n<p><em>William Faulkner said, \u201cThe artist is of no importance. Only what he creates is important, since there is nothing new to be said.\u201d<!--more--><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Becoming Great<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To become great we must focus our attention on developing our unique and dominant gifts.<\/p>\n<p>The full unhindered expression of our creativity is what can make all of us great.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What do you do best? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThe biggest mistake people make in life is not trying to make a living at doing what they most enjoy.\u201d \u2013 Malcolm S. Forbes<\/em><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Do you love to sing, fix broken things, talk to people, or sell?\u00a0 Whatever it is, you must focus your attention on doing it to the best of your ability.\u00a0 Give that dominant talent your focus, and allow it to develop through training.\u00a0 Given enough time, and enough focus, we will consider you great.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Remember:<\/strong> There&#8217;s always room at the top for those who are dedicated to greatness, so whatever you do, do it well or not at all.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cIf a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.\u201d \u2013 Martin Luther King Jr.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Life is too short for you not to be great<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m often criticized for telling people to go after their dreams.\u00a0 My critics would say, \u201cGet your head out of the clouds; face the realities.\u201d\u00a0 BUT, I believe life is too short to only give 50 percent.\u00a0 You only get one bite at the apple, you only live once, why not live it to the fullest, why not play it to the hilt, why not die empty, with no regrets.<\/p>\n<p>In the words of Paris Hilton, \u201cLife is too short to blend in.\u201d\u00a0 It really is, you were born an original, don\u2019t die a copy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You can do it<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Just like a seed, you have everything you need on the inside of you to succeed.\u00a0 You just need to put yourself in the right environment so you can grow and become all that you were destined to become.\u00a0 See you at the top!<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cLife is too short to be small.\u201d &#8211; Benjamin Disraeli<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Mr. Self Development is an author who teaches a practical guide to success and wealth. Please visit him at <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Mr. Self Development.com<\/span>. If you\u2019ve enjoyed reading this article, then you may want to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">subscribe to his feed<\/span>, follow him on <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Twitter<\/span>, or read one of his most popular articles, \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">How I Manifested a Seven Bedroom Home at 24<\/span>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t Forget To Follow PickTheBrain on <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/pickthebrain\">Twitter<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Related Articles:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/7-concrete-steps-to-reaching-your-full-potential\/\">7 Concrete Steps To Reaching Your Full Potential<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/mental-superpowers-how-to-unleash-the-full-potential-of-your-mind\/\">Mental Super Powers: How To Unleash The Full Potential Of Your Mind<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We&#8217;d find people who discovered their talent and then showcased that talent to the world in a &#8220;new&#8221; and creative way.<\/p>\n<p>Most of the people we&#8217;d find wouldn&#8217;t be doing anything &#8220;new.&#8221;  They would be doing something that&#8217;s been done before, in a &#8220;new&#8221; and unique way. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-become-great\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":12809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[6],"tags":[4650,141,4631,77,66,140,4629,4640],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How To Be Great<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you have plans on becoming great, you&#039;ll want to read this brief article. Find people who discovered their talent and then showcased that talent to the world in a &quot;new&quot; and creative way. Most of the people we&#039;d find wouldn&#039;t be doing anything &quot;new.&quot; They would be doing something that&#039;s been done before, in a &quot;new&quot; and unique way.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-become-great\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How To Be Great\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you have plans on becoming great, you&#039;ll want to read this brief article. Find people who discovered their talent and then showcased that talent to the world in a &quot;new&quot; and creative way. Most of the people we&#039;d find wouldn&#039;t be doing anything &quot;new.&quot; They would be doing something that&#039;s been done before, in a &quot;new&quot; and unique way.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-become-great\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-11-05T16:23:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-08-21T16:49:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/271341.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"756\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"504\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Falconer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-become-great\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/271341.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/271341.jpg\",\"width\":756,\"height\":504,\"caption\":\"becoming great\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-become-great\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-become-great\/\",\"name\":\"How To Be Great\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-become-great\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-11-05T16:23:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-08-21T16:49:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\"},\"description\":\"If you have plans on becoming great, you'll want to read this brief article. 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