On the path to growth and greatness, most highflyers drive themselves too far. Whether it’s the singer Kesha who drinks her own pee just to stay in shape, Dangote who gets only 3-4 hours of sleep daily just to keep up, Elon Musk (now the second richest man on earth) who drinks 8 cans of Coke daily or the British football legend Rooney who can’t sleep without noise, so every night he turns on a head dryer just to feel the sensation of noise. Behind the good spirits of awesomeness come our own demons.
The actor Nicholas Cage is such a genius and spendthrift that he once spent 100Million Dollars within a short span on unnecessary things (which included an octopus, two private islands and a dinosaur skull). We perhaps know of a popular brilliant Nigerian pastor with alleged cases of rape. We’ve had great Nigerian leaders who smoked heavily, including Shagari, Fashola and Yar’Adua. No pun intended, but smoking hot highflyers need exhaust pipes to let out toxins too. Most executives have weird excesses as side effects.
We all know that the founder of Apple, Steve Jobs just like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, just wore only one color of shirt for most of the time to save time from fashion. But Steve Jobs did the same with his food too. I mean, did we know that Steve Jobs never really got the idea of a balanced diet as he was known to eat only one food everyday for at least a week, and then he repeats that cycle again with another? This poor dieting may have been responsible for the cancer that took him away. The famous Indian actor Shashi Kapoor drinks about 10 cups of coffee a day!
I personally spend a lot of time in the future forgetting the present. It took my wife to show me my absent mindedness and therapeutically walk me out of it. Some never realize how much the present isn’t lived by engaging too much in the ambitiousness of the future or the regrets of the past. It has cost some people their family, little wonder why successful people seem to have the highest rate of divorce. Highflyers drive themselves too far. The side effect of being a highflyer on a very fast lane most times does not know when to stop. And some take it too far into addiction. For some it’s womanizing, for others it is weird superstitions (you would be shocked by how many Nigerian executives have their lives being dictated by either pastors/prophets, clerics or even the occult!). For some, it is their sexual fetishness (Amy Winehouse loved spanking and aggressive sex while the basket ball legend Shaquille O’Neil is menophilian, that is, he is highly sexually aroused by the menstruation blood of a woman). Worst of all is substance abuse.
Read also: Maradona, boardroom executives and excessive habits
Last month, the world lost a legend, Diego Maradonna, arguably one of the greatest soccer players. He would have lived longer if not for the excesses of drug addiction. The likes of Diego Maradona, Whitney Houston, Majek Fashek, Jean Michelle Basquiat, Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix and tens of others lost their promising lives to the excesses of cocaine addiction. To the crack cocaine buffets of the 70s, the all star American soldiers lost the Vietnam War possibly to its indulgence alongside the high, undisciplined lifestyle and low morale that came with it.
High flyers are so good at conquering others that they forget to conquer their own weaknesses. We most times indulge in self-sabotage, we lose the crown by cutting off our own heads. I’m inspired by a painting by Basquiat (a highly priced New York arts legend who died of heroin overdose). In one of his paintings, came an inscription which was eventually made popular by Jay-Z, that “most kings help get their own heads cut off”.
Being a genius in your workplace is a combination of Talent and Hardwork. And in between, comes discipline. Without it, comes an ugly fight between Talent Versus Hard Work. And in talent versus hard work, hard work only beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.
You’re gifted, hardworking and smart, so what? You’re intelligent, says who?
True intelligence is in its tangible application. It’s in knowing and managing self before others. It’s how you can conquer your excesses. It starts from self-control. And the basic or self-control is how you can first control your thoughts and associations. In other words, watch your associations, they inspire your thoughts. Watch your thoughts they become words. Watch your words they become actions. Watch your actions they become habits. Watch your habits for they mold your destiny and end. And even after your end, they are passed on to your offsprings as genetics!
Weird is a side effect of awesomeness. Know thy self, especially your weird and excessive part; and then keep it away from your awesomeness. The best way to do this is to consciously identify your blind spots (your excesses unknown to you but known to others) and also your façade (your excesses know to you but unknown to others). Self-disclosure of your excesses and weakness is the first step to conquering them. And also going all out with an accountability partner to help you get over. Sometimes you may even need therapy. Be aware and work on managing your Weird Excesses; The Side Effect of HighFlyers.
