The key to achieving great things with a normal disposition (i.e. one born of the masses, with a NORMAL motivation and moderate drive) is to have a strong support network/web.
I have witnessed this in my own life where I have been hoisted into a position where one may say is 'excellent' or rather to note that I have excelled, not by the virtue of any genius, unwavering determination or uncommon capabilities, but by a crane and hook constantly lifting me above a 'normal' life.
I shall define 'normal' as simply being the largest percentage of lifestyles led, as may be illustrated by statistics and census everywhere. To have a good education, be in a good university and study an esoteric subject as physics is an extreme privilege though many of my peers may not acknowledge or be aware of such a fact as submerged in our social webs, we think we are the norm.
The allegory of the crane and hook then, will refer to that strong support web I have mentioned composed of parents, systems, teachers and peers. Firstly to be born in a safe and nurturing domestic environment is a blessing in itself as youth shelters can always illustrate the devastating effect domestic violence/negligence can have on a person.
The system then plays a very important part on how focused it is in raising the individual rather than being a system for systems' sake, and this is where students find interests in scholastic academia, sports or other interests.
Finally, what I find is the most important point is having peers to freely communicate with. No man is an island entire of itself, and so being social beings, we cling on to parental expectations and progress together with the rest of our social circle as a group in a dogged tail-biting race not to be left behind.
As the quantity in my immediate social circle has dipped for whatever reason - cultural differences, differing mindsets, plain laziness to socialize - I find that 'excellence' is not so instinctive as it was, and the reason is now clear that a fundamental drive has been removed.
A multitude of benefits arise from strong social support, as one is called upon to fear, critique, envy, learn, humble, and be proud of oneself, running through the spectra of base emotion that arise from interaction. We fear being outcast and left behind, and fear humiliation thus we strive not to fall far behind. We critique works and achievements in our pride and envy and thus we learn and teach simultaneously. We are humbled upon being bested, and proud when achieving beyond our immediate peers though far greater talents may surpass us. And in this isolated system of apparent irrationality, we hold on to our sanity and act as we always have.
Our friends give us this yardstick to measure ourselves against, and the larger the circle, the more accurate the stick as per the law of statistics. Therefore once removed from a substantially strong network, we enter a system void of measurement; less of measuring sticks and more of a new ball game.
And therefore in our later years when we are removed from the artificial construct of this perfect social amalgam known as a 'school', we have to adapt in functioning differently. Unless we upkeep our networks, we are bereft of information used to plan and motivate ourselves. Furthermore in areas of cutting-edge development, we lose an absolute in the standard of achievement as things are not so clear-cut as As or Bs, 4s or 5s, or dollars and cents. We have to find the reason for constantly nudging ourselves forward off the brink of the 'possible', to know what we are doing.
And so comes true excellence that will surpass age, time and social constructs. These are the people we deem to have genius, unwavering determination, and uncommon capabilities. In other words, they have found their raison d'etre.
