Is the pursuit brilliance even worth it? We are often trained to aspire for more, to do more, achieve more. The premise of almost every piece that you could read focusing on motivation is mainly about that, with catchy titles like ‘Achieve your destiny’, ‘Unlock your potential’ or ‘Seize your strength’.

I often find myself questioning this concept. Is this ‘quest’ of sorts really worth it? Is the psychological, financial, mental or whatever practice of brilliance, really worth all of the effort?

If we externalize brilliance (and of course by brilliance, I mean any form of excellence or ascension in your skillset or derivatives) then you would most probably find yourself in one of the following two positions:

Your brilliance serves as the main entertainment for less brilliant minds. Or, you are in a pool where people are appreciative of your brilliance and they are able to fully comprehend it.

In the first case, the question and evaluation of worth really manifests itself in a way that is undeniably apparent. If whoever is on the receiving end of your brilliance, be it a spectator or a consumer, is unable to grasp the depth of whatever form of intelligence you are looking to project, doesn’t that automatically render your brilliance useless? Doesn’t it mean that you are in business in a market that does not require your product, simply because they do not know how to use it themselves?

Now the second case is particularly tricky. Because, while it seems that you are in a favorable position because you are being consumed by similarly brilliant minds, in fact, you are not. Think about it. If other minds that you are tending to are as brilliant and as expanded as yours, doesn’t that make any, if not all, of what you’re about to say, appear too familiar? Doesn’t that make your entire process, a recurring and echoing deja-vu of sorts for them? In this case, where is the value?

Brilliance can present itself in many forms. Be it intellectual, mental, physical, financial…whichever format you choose, there is always a common thread that weaves them all together. And that is the human mind. 

While most creatures that exist in nature adopt processes that are exclusively designed for the preservation of their existence, the human mind actually assigns reward points to expanding its capabilities and bettering results solemnly for aesthetics. The human mind tries to find more appealing methods to express itself, just for sport, which has zero impact on its self-preservation.

However, we are unable to fully enjoy our own creation or brilliance unless we are motivated by an external opinion. We are stupid like that. Self-doubt is a poisonous adventure we venture on solemnly to attempt to create a monster to validate our notion of brilliance. Yes, this can be confusing, viciously circular, and one could easily fall down an endless rabbit hole. This notion applies to brilliance, in and of itself, as well as its bi-products like creativity, mental rigidity, cognitive skills, etc. 

They seem not to bring joy to anyone experiencing them: your peers nor you, in my opinion. But that’s because we regard them as mediums for our pleasure. But maybe, if we understand that we are tools for brilliance and not mere consumers of it, then can we truly understand the worth of its pursuit. It is always worth it, at the end of the day, because even if we fail to see the point, brilliance, in whatever form it manifests itself into, is enriching for both the spectator and the creator. 

George Tarabay is a marketing expert/ Filmmaker/ comedian/Podcaster. Follow him on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, SoundCloud @GeorgeTarabay.