How does one become Exceptional?

According to the English dictionary, one of the meanings of the word exceptional is "Unusually good, outstanding". Exceptional human beings are defined by the very nature of their accomplishments that are recognized by millions of people. Have you ever wondered what percentage of human population could be considered as exceptional at any point in time? I have; many times. I have also wondered what it takes an average person like yours truly to become exceptional. Finally, I might have some answers that I am passing along to you.

In 21st century, if we assume world population to be roughly 7 billion and that around 100 million (~30% US population) people are truly exceptional, this comes around to 1.4% of the population. I will explain why this is indeed a very high number.

Let us go back in time to when we were in school or college and assume the class had 100 students. Using above stats, if 1.4% would be exceptional, your class might have one individual that is exceptional who would go on to have outstanding accomplishments in life. Based on this, if you happen to know 1000 people who know you as well, then chances are that there would be 10-14 exceptional people among them, which is extremely rare. 

Now you can see why assuming 100 million exceptional people is a high number. The reality could be somewhere close to ~10 million individuals across the world that are exceptional or 1 in 1000 people. A thousand people would be normally what any person would have in their network of family and friends and maybe only one person would be truly exceptional among them. Don't you want to be that exceptional person? The odds are not very high that there would be 2 exceptional people among that 1000 and it goes further down to have 3 in that 1000. Does the low odds mean that you should give up your hopes of becoming exceptional? Of course not. Let us now understand what Mr. Buffett has to say about this.

Billionaire and legendary investor Warren Buffett has a great offer for all of us (Shared in his address to University of Georgia business school students in 2001). "Suppose if you could pick any one of your classmates and if 10% of their earnings come to you for the rest of your life. I ask you what goes through your mind to determine which one of your classmates you would pick? You have to choose this on merit, not someone who has the richest father. You would probably pick the one with the highest grades in class, which is perfectly rational, but that is not the quality that would set someone apart as a big winner from the rest of the pack. Think about who you would pick and why? Would it be the person with the most A's, the person with best athletic abilities, the person with highest IQ, the most good looking person, etc.? You all have the energy and intelligence to get here. But some of you would be bigger winners than others and it gets down to some basic qualities. Now, what are those qualities?"

Mr. Buffett himself offers the answer. According to him, the way he selects someone to work with is based on 3 simple criteria - Intelligence, Initiative/Energy and Integrity. In fact, he rates integrity as the most important thing to consider when choosing the right person to work with and for this person to win big in life. Mr. Buffett goes on to say that if the person you are working with does not have integrity, then you might wish that, that person was lazy and dumb. The person with integrity who also happens to have high IQ and energy/passion/initiative would rise to the top.

Integrity is the most important quality in selecting whom to follow or work with - Warren Buffett

Please allow me to share some properties that these exceptional people share universally.

1. Network effect - The making of these exceptional people do not happen in isolation. There are network effects at play. Being around an exceptional person tends to bring out the best in others which can lead themselves to achieve this level of excellence. If you live in isolation and cutoff from rest of the world, it doesn't matter that you are exceptional in all facets of life, you would still be ineffective in influencing others and leaving you in the non-exceptional category.
2. Growth Mindset - You are never too young nor too old to learn life's greatest lessons and the time to learn is now. Exceptional people understand that learning never stops and it is a lifelong process. In fact real education starts when school stops.
3. Willingness to help others - Nigerian proverb, "If you want to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to walk far, walk with a team". An exceptional leader would be willing to help others and add value to their lives more than he receives in return. This way he/she compounds the goodwill they receive which would snowball to astronomical figures.
4. Become the best version of themselves - Exceptional people are driven by the desire to continuously improve themselves. Nothing stops them in the pursuit of excellence. Improve 1% every day and you would have become 37 times better in 1 year. Berkshire Hathaway Vice-Chairman and billionaire investor Charlie Munger says, "Try to go to bed a little wiser than when you woke up that day and continue to do this for a long time, you can't help but improve and become wiser and richer".
5. Value for time - Lost money can be made again, lost time cannot be. Exceptional people value their time more than anything. They would put the most premium for their time and start saying NO to things that take their focus off their goals.
6. Fearless - Exceptional people seldom worry about failures or what others might think. They are risk-takers willing to forge independent paths that others seldom tread. Failures are after all stepping stones to success. Thomas Edison summed it up nicely after repeated efforts to invent the Light Bulb, "I haven't failed. I just found 10,000 ways it won't work".
7. Passion - Mark Twain said, "The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why". This is powerful. The day you find out why is the day you discover your passion like what I have found. Exceptional people have found out this WHY & everything they do is focused around it.
8. High integrity - Last but not the least, it is integrity, honesty and trustworthiness that separates the exceptional people from the rest. People follow and admire them for their candor, dedication and humility.

"A teacher would appear when the student is ready" - Gautam Buddha

If you have decided that you want to become exceptional, then nothing can stop you from achieving this goal. All it takes is patience, time and application of the above principles. Once the decision has been made to become exceptional, the teacher to follow would automatically appear. However, it is very important to realize, that true exceptionalism is not materialistic and one should not have this as the ultimate goal. The goal should not be to become exceptional, becoming exceptional is the outcome of achieving the original goal. Are you ready to become exceptional? Have you found that outstanding person that you are willing to follow? We only learn when we are ready to learn.

Sincere thanks for taking your time to read my article. Hope you were able to get something of value from it. Kindly take a moment to add a comment below on which exceptional individual would you follow and like this article if you enjoyed reading it. Would love to connect with you if you are interested to add me to your network.