There’s an unexpected reason to the madness
I recently read Ashlee’s Vance’s biography on Elon Musk, and Like Alexander Hamilton must have grabbed Lin Manuel Miranda, Elon’s life hit home with me.
But when I compare my twenties to Elon’s, I can’t help but feel envious. Not because he sold his first company and purchased a McLaren at age 27, but because I never had his energy, passion, or grit for work.
“He had boundless energy,” said Bruce Leak, a former lead engineer at Apple who hired Musk as an intern. “Kids these days have no idea about hardware or how stuff works, but he had a PC hacker background and was not afraid to just go and figure things out.”
As a post-graduate, Elon operated a company while simultaneously running code for its website. He worked 18-hour days, slept at the office, and showered at the local YMCA on the weekends.
I don’t know about you, but I spent my early twenties staring at a computer clock waiting for it to strike five while simultaneously texting weekend plans to my friends under my desk. Where was my energy?
Acclaimed academic and author of Grit, Angela Duckworth, says the mature passions of gritty people depend on two sources: interests and purpose.
