The Line Between Expectation And Delusion In The Pursuit Of Success
What Defines The Line That Leads To Success, Even Against Staggering Odds
The Line Between Expectation And Delusion In The Pursuit Of Success
What Defines The Line That Leads To Success, Even Against Staggering Odds
Written by a human, for humans, always.
When you are in the pursuit of success...
You begin to build a strange relationship with expectation.
Let me give you an example.
There is an award that I recently won.
I knew I was in the running for it.
2 million profiles were in the selection process.
Over 80 individuals went into the final selection round.
1 person would be selected.
The entire time...
I expected to win the award...
And I did, all glory to God.
There was a 0.0000005% chance of my profile making it to the final selection round.
Even in the final round, I only had a 1.25% chance of being selected.
To have an understanding of those types of odds...
And still expect to win the entire time...
Sounds delusional.
To give you context...
Ivy League Acceptance rates for 2026 are between 3% and 7%...
And when I was younger, I certainly did “not” have the audacity to believe I would make it into an Ivy League school.
Yet...
When it came to this...
I fully expected to win...
And I did.
Does that mean I was actually delusional?
Or did winning prove that my expectations were correct?
This is where things become interesting in the pursuit of success.
To some extent...
To reach the highest levels of anything...
You have to at least look at the odds...
And gain an expectation of overcoming those odds...
Even when they appear delusional.
Some people may even be deserving of high success...
But because they do not expect it...
They give up before they even discover what they had already rightfully earned the success.
Then...
When you look at some individuals who do expect to have success...
You discover they truly are delusional.
Some of them are egomaniacs.
Others are entitled.
Many of them have failed to dedicate themselves to the work that is required to reach high levels of success.
Even if they fully expect to succeed...
There is no way that they will because it is all delusional.
They may complain about it the entire time...
Claiming that the system is broken and that it was unfair...
But it is far more likely that they did not do what was required to earn it.
So what is it...
That ends up defining the line between expectation and delusion?
It often comes down to two factors...
Self-confidence...
And...
Evidence.
As the levels of success you reach for increase...
Both of these must increase in step.
Each level of success requires more dedication...
Each level has more intense proof required...
Each level becomes dramatically more competitive...
Each level requires you to believe you deserve to be there.
If you lack the confidence...
You will not have enough of an expectation to be in the room.
If you lack the evidence...
You will be discovered as being delusional, and you will be kicked out of the room.
The higher you move up the levels of success...
The narrower the line of right expectations becomes...
And the easier it becomes to fall into the abyss of delusion.
There is one other thing to consider here as well...
Who is in the game?
One thing that you may often hear when it comes to success...
Is that some individuals do not deserve the success they have...
And...
They might be right to some degree.
Sometimes, there are individuals who do not deserve what they have received.
Yet...
They get it.
Why does that happen?
The number one reason...
That many people do not want to hear...
But is true...
Is that there are not many people in the running at those levels...
And they may be the “best” between terrible choices...
Or at the very least perceived to be the “better” between them.
What that means...
Is that it may be true that they do not deserve it...
But perhaps no one who was in the running deserved it...
And they only succeeded...
Because better people did not have the confidence in themselves...
Or did not get enough evidence at that level...
To prove that they deserved it more.
This is one of the areas where I believe there is a sore lacking...
But also a genuinely powerful opportunity...
For those who are deserving.
If the right people gain the confidence required in themselves...
And get the evidence required to prove it...
Then we will see more of the right people have the success they deserve.
It may not always feel like it...
But the world does want to see good people succeed.
If the choices are between two evils...
The lesser evil generally wins...
But people are not happy about it.
But if the choices are between good and evil...
The good generally wins...
Especially in the long term.
But...
It requires good people to believe in themselves...
To prove themselves...
And to keep their hearts pure in the process.
That becomes the ultimate path to success that makes one...
Undeniable.
To Your Sageship,
Cody
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