MulliganBrothers is a YouTube Channel dedicated to motivational/inspirational talks and videos.
A few months ago they were livestreaming a loop of talks and one of them stuck out to me. I didn’t recognize the speaker’s voice. There was a live chat going, so I asked there. Someone said it sounded like Tyrese Gibson. I’d never heard of him.
Last week, I ripped a few YouTube talks to MP3 to listen to over the weekend. I decided to try a Gibson one. I didn’t expect it to be the one I heard and it probably isn’t (I can’t now recall what struck me at the time).
But it contained a sentence that hit me:
Only those that can see the invisible can do the impossible.
I won’t say why it did, however.
But it also fits in with a quote from The Imitation Game that I also love.
Imitation Game – It’s the very people who no one imagines…
Here’s that Gibson talk:
Tyrese Gibson speech that gave me goosebumps.
It’s probably no coincidence that I’m reading The Quants: How a New Breed of Math Whizzes Conquered Wall Street and Nearly Destroyed It by Scott Patterson (at post time, it’s only US$1.99 for Kindle; buy it!!!)
It’s not the first book I’ve read about math wizards. I am abysmal at math of all kinds. I always get myself in trouble with numbers. People who handle numbers are usually shocked by how bad I am (at one job, an accountant with a desk calculator kicked my ass even though I used a Mac Desk Accessory calculator to add up my figures!). But I appreciate math. I understand that it underpins all of reality.
So reading about people who — seeming effortlessly! — program machines to create wealth makes me feel like this, the guy in the yellow circle:
While that still means I’m ahead of the game compared to most people — most people don’t even to bother to look into that window! — it only leaves me extremely frustrated. There’s a party going on. And not only am I not invited, there are even guards outside those windows preventing me from looking in. I have to read accounts of a party that’s already happened.
And while it’s possible to create my own party, it requires math to do so. So no, really, it’s not even possible.
Or is it?
The Verger (1950) W.Somerset Maugham
He didn’t let not being able to read stop him! And if you’re mocking, saying that’s just a story, meet Sylvanus F. Bowser, who had it even worse!
What I have going for me is this:
This is how a Genius Thinks | Neil deGrasse Tyson
And here’s an example of that:
The Founder Real Estate Business Scene
Which ties into this:
If You Can’t Make A Living In America, You’re Not Paying Attention
And all of this is not just because of The Quants (and past reading about them), it’s because Alex Becker is right:
Why Biz “Gurus” Keep You Poor & Stuck
And his mention of IQ at the start? Again, if you haven’t, go read about Sylvanus F. Bowser!
And here’s the talk that Becker referenced (put here so no one curious has to search for it; it can actually be skipped):
Death By 1,000 Cuts: How You Waste Time
(Hire a chef? Ummmm…!)
I’ve allowed myself to be distracted and have put my attention in things that are secondary.
I need to change that in 2019.
Happy New Year.
Previously here:
Mike Cane's Atomic Supermen 