People keep asking me…
”John, why are you doing this? Why do you write about these people?”
and usually, i tell them the truth:
I’m deeply passionate about these great leaders. It’s what keeps me up at night… it’s truly the most interesting field to study in the world
but…
I realized that I sound like a teenage girl with a crush to most people.
So, most people
Yes you
hi 👋 hello, how are you doing
My names John (I write about the greats of history if you can’t tell)
Today I’m going to explain why you shouldn’t just have a crush, but you should be madly in love with the greats of history
If you’re not a CEO, you’re a 9-5 peasant.
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DISCLAIMER: WHY YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN’T STUDY THE GREATS.
In its essence, to study the greats is to become a great.
And I know that’s a daunting task.
Napoleon… Alexander the Great… Jesus!
How are you supposed to become one of them? Well… you’re not. Think about someone you know, someone you respect.
Maybe a Pastor at your Church
Maybe your mom or dad.
The whole world probably doesn’t know them. They haven’t single handedly changed history forever.
But they have something all Greats have…
Drive.
Napoleon had it when his wife cheated on him while he was conquering Egypt.
Jesus had when he was getting beaten, and crucified.
Now you must have it, in your life.
I’m not saying you need to conquer Europe, build an empire, or have your face printed in history books 2,000 years from now.
If you’re not willing to take a deep look at yourself, and find the drive to become great - whatever that means for you - you shouldn’t study the greats.
Because reading about what they did is useless if you’re never going to use any of it.
All the greats studied the greats
Do you want to know what Mike Tyson, Mahatma Gandhi, and Aristotle all have in common?
They studied the greats.
Every famous person you know
Every smart person you wish you were like
EVERY. SINGLE. GREAT… studied the greats.
And when you start looking, you see this weird chain running through history.
Alexander obsessed over Achilles.
Caesar admired Alexander.
Napoleon studied Caesar.
Mike Tyson studied Napoleon, Alexander, Achilles, Charlemagne…
The greats weren’t born with some magical book of answers sitting in their heads.
They looked backward.
They found people who had already done something extraordinary, studied what worked, studied what didn’t, and took pieces for themselves.
But don’t take it from me. Here are a few quotes to prove it:
And that’s kind of the funny part.
We treat studying great people like some nerdy hobby.
Meanwhile, the people we’re studying were doing the exact same fucking thing.
Napoleon wasn’t embarrassed to study Caesar.
Tyson wasn’t embarrassed to study Napoleon.
So why should you be?
THAT’S REALLY MY WHOLE ARGUMENT
Now i’ve debated this. And i could say more
I could tell you all the reasons why studying the greats is so amazing and why it’s the best thing you’ll ever do in your life.
But i’m not that type of guy
I like to have my point stand for itself, and you decide.
That’s why i started this newsletter. So that people like you can read about the greats, not about my opinion.
If you’re interested, and you’ve got drive, read one piece of mine.
ANY piece.
Read about the greats. Read about the tactics they used, the mistakes they made, the weird things they believed, and the things that made them different from everybody around them.
Take whatever is useful.
Throw away whatever isn’t.
And if you read it and think it’s all a bunch of baloney, please, be my guest:
Never read this newsletter again.
But if you feel that interest…
That tiny spark in your chest that makes you wonder what Napoleon knew, or what Gandhi understood, or why Alexander became Alexander the Great…
Please.
Study the greats.
It changed my life.
It changed the lives of many of the people I now spend my time studying.
Maybe it’ll change yours.
Hope to see you in the next one,
Copy John
P.S. click below to have a look at my profile, you can see my work there: