World Champions

Has it ever occurred to you the inaccuracy of the title World Champions that we give to the winner of the Super Bowl?  American Football is one of the most non-global sports.  Soccer, sure.  Baseball, maybe.  Track & Field, perhaps.  But American Football, not by a long shot.  It’s really only played on one continent, and predominantly in one country. 

So, were the New England Patriots the World Champions?  Are they the best in the world?  Absolutely.  Because being the best in the world at something does not mean, “better than everyone else in the world”.  It really means, “better than everyone else in the world for whom it matters”.  That last phrase makes a world of difference (wink).  Football matters to North Americans.

The best sushi in the world may be in Japan.  But for me, the best sushi in the world is a small joint in my hometown because I haven’t been to Japan and I’m not going to go there just for the good sushi.  I’m willing to drive about 30 minutes, though.  And it’s the best in the world within that radius. 

The best water in the world for a villager in Pakistan is not the water from a well at a cabin in North Idaho; it’s the water within walking distance from the village.  Idaho water doesn’t matter to him. 

The goal is not to be better than everyone.  The goal is to be the best for whom your work matters.  For you, that might be rolling sushi or digging wells, and in doing those things, being the best for whom it matters will not be easy but it will be worth it for them. 

(By the way, being the best is the surest way to create value for your craft, your gift, your thing.)

Go, be the best.