The Responsibility of Success

As I was driving to the grocery store I heard a popular radio announcer discussing how he gets approached by people to listen to their podcasts.

He likened it to a writer always being asked to read other people’s writing.

I get it.  It certainly would be hard to have people constantly asking advice or for your expertise when you’re famous, or at least in his case, very well known.

But that wasn’t his point.  He didn’t say that this was a constant thing as if he couldn’t get a moments peace from it.  No, his point was this.  “It’s not my job to help you be better at your job”.

My experience has been that the more successful people become, the more willing they are to help those who are still trying to do so.  No, it’s not their ‘job’ to do it, they do it because they understand that no one can make it alone.  They know that the only way to become better at something is to be around and learn from those who are better at it than you.

Respectfully, I disagree with the radio announcer.  While many may not feel it’s their job to help those who are not as successful in whatever it is they do, it is their responsibility.

When you become successful, truly successful, you’ll realize that helping others succeed is what it’s really all about anyway. Those who fear someone taking their job or knocking them off the perch haven’t truly succeeded.  They’ve simply arrived at a plateau and never noticed how amazing the view is and that sharing that view makes it all the more worthwhile.