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Some people don't need to overcommmit to be great. I, for instance, could go through a similar golf itinerary as Jack and would only be an average golfer, as I

Some people don't need to overcommmit to be great. I, for instance, could go through a similar golf itinerary as Jack and would only be an average golfer, as I am not a gifted golfer. I could perhaps dedicate every waking second to golf and perhaps become pro, but still probably not. Jack had a once in a generation talent to go along with his commitment to work life balance.

mfer 5y ago
A lot of people feel the need to overcommit in the chase to try to become an all time great at a thing. While overcomitting they miss out on many other things in life and have poor relationships along the way. Often not realizing the lack in quality of the relationships until they regret it.
- hn_throwaway_99 5y ago
  What you are saying exactly proves my point: "A lot of people feel the need to overcommit in the chase to try to become an all time great at a thing." Jack Nicklaus was the all time great at a thing, and could still have a nice work life balance. My point is not that Jack Nicklaus did anything wrong, it's just that the lessons learned from his life aren't really applicable to many other folks because he didn't have to choose between being the best and his relationships - very few other people have that option. I feel pretty strongly about this point because I see it all the time in "feel good" articles and stories in the US. One of my favorite examples were all the "best lessons of business from Google" books that seemed to be all the rage in the 00s. Except that Google had discovered and eventually monopolized a giant, nearly endless profit producing machine that hardly any other companies have access to. So much of the tools of that success (e.g. hiring top talent, giving that talent lots of freedom, 20% time, loads of cushy benefits, yada yada) were only possible with their giant pit of cash. And I'm not saying other companies weren't immensely profitable yet still fucked things up, I'm just saying the primary keys to Google's success is the immense profitability of their business, not all the other things than can result from that.

mfer 5y ago

A lot of people feel the need to overcommit in the chase to try to become an all time great at a thing. While overcomitting they miss out on many other things in life and have poor relationships along the way. Often not realizing the lack in quality of the relationships until they regret it.

hn_throwaway_99 5y ago
What you are saying exactly proves my point: "A lot of people feel the need to overcommit in the chase to try to become an all time great at a thing." Jack Nicklaus was the all time great at a thing, and could still have a nice work life balance. My point is not that Jack Nicklaus did anything wrong, it's just that the lessons learned from his life aren't really applicable to many other folks because he didn't have to choose between being the best and his relationships - very few other people have that option. I feel pretty strongly about this point because I see it all the time in "feel good" articles and stories in the US. One of my favorite examples were all the "best lessons of business from Google" books that seemed to be all the rage in the 00s. Except that Google had discovered and eventually monopolized a giant, nearly endless profit producing machine that hardly any other companies have access to. So much of the tools of that success (e.g. hiring top talent, giving that talent lots of freedom, 20% time, loads of cushy benefits, yada yada) were only possible with their giant pit of cash. And I'm not saying other companies weren't immensely profitable yet still fucked things up, I'm just saying the primary keys to Google's success is the immense profitability of their business, not all the other things than can result from that.