Be Formidable.

Of anything you can become, you should strive to be formidable.

That is, scary good at whatever you do. So good that you inspire fear and respect from others by your sheer intensity, power, capability, tenacity, enthusiasm. To me that’s the ultimate compliment.

When I think of formidable I think of Mount Everest. Or maybe 1986 Michael Jordan.

I’d guess if I had to sum it up that’s probably my goal from now til I retire. Become formidably good at my thing. I’ve decided that best way for me to be generally impactful is to be specifically good at starting business, because that’s the best way to create leverage in this world.

And that’s really the thing about being formidable. Is that it’s not about being the best at everything. It’s about being unexpectedly — perhaps unreasonably — good at your particular thing. Like, freakishly good.

So, the natural question: how does one become formidable?

The easy answers are out there, I’m sure one of my previous blog posts covers some of the sparknotes. Part of it’s surely defaulting to action, developing superhuman habits, having a grand vision, failing and iteration and incrementality and persistence and just striving to be the best.

But I’m not even sure any of those are pre-requisites. I think if anything, there’s really one ingredient that matters most when it comes to becoming formidable:

Love.

Seriously. To get scary good at something it can only happen if you truly truly love it. Like deeply, more than anything — enough to sacrifice everything. A fierce, consuming, burning kinds that makes it impossible to put down whatever you’ve picked up.

In a way formidibility and love are one in the same. Love at it’s best is a little scary.

And when you look at truly formidable people, what you're often seeing is love manifested as unstoppable force — a kind of gravity well of devotion and attention that bends reality around it.

The world needs more formidable people like that.

More people who care so deeply about something that they become slightly terrifying in their expertise. More people who make others say "Oh, you should talk to [them] about that" with a mixture of admiration and mild concern.

Whatever you do, I suppose you should just choose your Everest and go climb it. Formidably of course.

And whoever your loved ones are, hold onto them formidably too.

Because in the end, that’s all we have in life is to pursue our Everest and love the people around us on the way.

While you’re at it, just remember to eat lunch.

Cheers,
Ramsey