If you say you really deserve to win, prove it.

Everybody deserves to win.

But do you really deserve to win?

Gone are the days when you could win because of anything but merit.

Even today, you could still win without merit.

But you will be joining a dying breed.

Because the world will eventually penalize you – for winning without merit.

Today you are competing against millions for a millisecond of attention.

That’s why people call this era the attention economy.

You’re competing with YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Quora, Netflix, CNN, Elon Musk, Putin, Trump, Xi, and millions of others.

So you better be good.

To win you must deserve it.

To win a sliver of the about $660m Amazon will be splashing on authors in 2025.

Your book must beat books by:

• Seth Godin
• Tim Ferriss
• Dickie Bush
• Nicolas Cole
• Mark Manson
• Chimamanda
• Malcolm Gladwell

To merit subscribers your YouTube/Podcast channel must beat (forget MR BEAST):

• Dan Koe
• Ali Abdaal
• Tom Bilyeu
• Alex Hormozi
• Codi Sanchez
• Steven Bartlett
• Brendon Burchard

For people to glance at your LinkedIn posts you must beat:

• Gary Vee
• Ryan Deiss
• Jasmin Alic
• Lara Acosta
• Sahil Bloom
• Justin Welsh
• Tobi Oluwole

To become the most valuable NBA player.

And win endorsements from Nike.

You better outplay today’s:

• Kobe Bryants
• Shaq O’Neals
• LeBron Jamess
• Magic Johnsons
• Michael Jordans
• Wilt Chamberlains
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbars

All rolled into one.

To have a fighting chance in soccer, you better play better than:

• Pele
• Weah
• Messi
• Modric
• Ronaldo
• Mbappe
• Maradona

All these call for hard work.

Extreme hard work.

Forget about the fallacy that it’s not a competition.

Forget about your mentor’s crap that you run on your own lane.

Your own lane to where?

You must model, steal, duplicate, copy, spy and cram what the best are doing.

Good artists copy.

Great artists steal.

You know who said it?

My namesake: Pablo Picasso.

Kirby Ferguson disputes this.

Kirby gets more followers by disputing and polarizing.

Einstein said, “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources”.

According to Kirby, there is wisdom to this.

No matter how original someone seems, they are copying from others.

Guess what?

“If you steal from one author, it’s plagiarism; if you steal from many, it’s research.”

Attributed to Steven Wright.

This is the issue.

If you want to excel.

You must copy the masters.

Not their works.

But their approach to work.

Their work ethic.

When Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel…

At some point Michelangelo had to lie on his back.

And the paint was dripping into his eyes.

It took Michelangelo 4 years …He was almost going blind (aged 37).

When friends, family and well wishers all over Italy told Michelangelo to forget about the hidden corners.

Because according to them, “No one will see.”

Michelangelo quickly retorted, “God will see.”

The Sistine Chapel stands as one of the greatest artistic works of all time.

Michelangelo completed the Sistine Chapel ceiling in 1512.

Again, he was aged 37.

So, what have you completed – so far?

You still haver a chance.

So, push yourself to your learning limits.

Don’t be a 10-year Africa Magic expert.

Learn everything you need to know – about your trade.

Your mentor is there to guide you.

When you do, someday soon…

Somebody BIG – like Elumelu, Zuckerberg, Obiejesi, and who knows, maybe even Trump, will welcome you to their dinner table.

So, do you really deserve to win?

What are you doing to win long term?