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“Never stop. Never settle.”
It’s no coincidence that the most desired things, animate or not, are also the most rare and difficult to attain. While desire is subjective, and varies from person to person, if you want to attain something great, prepare for the challenge of a lifetime. The odds are against you.
So you want to climb Mt. Everest?
As of 2010, only 3,100 or so climbers summitted Mt. Everest. In all, some 220 climbers perished climbing the 29,000+ foot juggernaut. That’s 7 deaths per 100 successful summits.
So you want to start a billion dollar company?
Since 2006, roughly 20 privately held US startups have been valued at one billion dollars or more. That year, Facebook’s 22-year old founder turned down a billion dollar cash offer from Yahoo, despite MySpace’s surging user base (100MM v Facebook’s 8MM), the fact that Facebook was two years old and not profitable, and the advice of his board. Six years later, the company IPO’d at $100BN, making it the third largest IPO ever.
So you want to mine a diamond?
Jewelry-grade diamonds can sell for a $1MM/ounce, making it the third most valuable substance in the world. For comparison, gold sells for ~$1200/ounce. Most diamonds were created a billion years ago under 200 miles of rock in 5000 degrees Celsius. For a crystal to form and grow to any significant size, those conditions persisted for thousands or even millions of years. To yield an ounce of diamonds, 200MM ounces of ore must be transported, crushed, sifted, and sorted.
So you want to set foot in space?
Of the seven billion people on the planet, only 530 have been in space, and less than half of them have been outside their module. Every few years despite thousands of applicants, only a handful of new astronaut hopefuls actually make it through NASA’s meticulous selection process. It’s no surprise that NASA paid Russia $70MM per seat for its’ astronauts to hitch a ride to the space station, or that Virgin Galactic increased ticket prices to a cool $250K.
Whether you’re climbing Everest, building a billion dollar company, destined for space, or just asking out your dream girl, remember that the odds are against you. Not everything desired comes at a great cost, but more often than not, it does. If you want to attain something great, forget luck, keep your head up, and buckle-up for the ride. Godspeed.
