Flashes of Brilliance or Sustained Success?

I’m an Elon Musk fan. I would love to be available to afford a Tesla and I watch the progress of the ‘affordable’ models that have continued to be delayed with interest. I have a deposit on a Tesla roof, much more affordable than the cars, but that rollout is very slow and may take years to get to the right coast.  I watch the SpaceX launches in Florida – that’s what the picture above is, a recent early morning launch, well what it looked like in the clouds.

I’m worried about Elon Musk

And I’m worried about Musk.  Has he spread himself so thin, taken on so many projects, that he has burnt himself out?

What has he done to his family, his health…? Can anyone really work 120 hours a week on a consistent basis? Not sleep?  Are we going to lose another great mind?

What did he do wrong? Can he get it back together? I’m sure there will be books and movies on that topic down the road but what lessons can us mere mortals take away from watching this unfold?

Priorities – keeping them straight and in focus.  What we say are our priorities so often doesn’t match what we invest in and where we spend our time.  Which means, they’re not really the right priorities for us right now and that internal conflict can cause endless stress until we get what our priorities really are straight in our heads and use those priorities as a filter for where and how we spend our time.

Discipline – Wishing it doesn’t make it so. I don’t think anyone should work 100+ hour weeks. I don’t wear a superhero cape.  But I do think focused work towards a goal pays off.  You have to put in the work to get results – there are no shortcuts.

Team – I don’t know enough to comment on Musk’s approach to teamwork but from what I gather he’s not great at relying on other people or having a network of supporters.  I don’t think lone wolves win the day. I think the building, investing and creating a team around us is the missing piece for so many of us.  It is hard work.

I appreciate Musk’s honesty and vulnerability in his words and communications to the public. I appreciate his brilliant mind.  It saddens me to think that he may have burned himself out and I hope that he can recover and figure out a way to use, channel, and give that brilliance to the world in a more positive, healthy way.

Watching this story unfold has been a good reminder to take inventory of my priorities, where I’m spending my time, and checking in to see if I’m investing in the success of my network enough.  We all need to be on the lookout for those we care about struggling and be that helping hand.

Are we paying attention to see who needs help around us?

Love to hear your thoughts on my morning ramble.