The Power of Emulation

How to leverage from the people and things we admire.

“I wish I could do it like that”

“He/She is my role model”

“How did they pull that off?”

When referring to something or someone we admire, we may find ourselves saying similar phrases to the ones above. Quite frankly, we often say them without a true understanding of what it means to have someone or something to look up to.

We’ve become used to admiring high achievers from afar, believing that their work ethic is beyond reach and only achievable by a select few.

Whether you admire a sports athlete, an entrepreneur, an artist or someone else — remember, they are all human and of this world. Just like yourself.

What stands them apart, perhaps, is their ultimate dedication to being the best at what they do. I repeat, the best.

Let’s take the example of, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Known globally as one of the most focused and driven soccer athletes, he is obsessed with the art of continuous improvement, never settling for a mediocre level of effort. The outcome? Phenomenal results throughout his career.

No matter how many team trophies and personal accolades have come his way, he has always put his heart and soul into his craft, never swaying from the goal of performing in and winning the next match.

For you and I, we may not have a “match to win”, but we can still define what winning is in our respective fields of work.

For yourself, it may be to acquire more clients than you did last week. For me, it’s to try and provide greater value in this newsletter every week. Consistently.

So while the vehicles we use to deliver results vary, our objective is the same — to be on a continuous upward trajectory of learning, development and improvement.

Pay Attention. Learn. Leverage

I remember — during my television producing days, I admired the production value of a show on another network. Being in the same genre as the programme I was directing at the time, I used this show as a benchmark against the standards I set myself. This was my leverage.

Similarly, I would encourage you to seek out fellow professionals who are currently producing results to the standards you are aspiring. Having someone or something to emulate makes it easier when judging your results because you have something tangible to compare.

However, please do not see this as being in competition with that which you admire. You are simply treating them/it as a mirror to reflect your standard of work.

You must only ever compete with yourself.

Whoever or whatever it is that you attempt to emulate, never let go of your key principles; this is what defines you and the footprint you will one day leave behind.

See you next week,

Sabir 👋

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