Life ™ has been busy since inception with the search for the Holy Grail. And over the millenia, The Holy Grail has taken on many different forms largely based on the “ruling” population of the time. Today, the search for the Holy Grail is more fervent than ever and more, it exists as a multi-dimensional “thing” (not unlike Thing 1 and Thing 2).
In technology, and more specifically, coding technology, the Holy Grail looks like a Silver Bullet. They’re actually the same thing, just prone to shape shifting. And the next best thing will be the answer to all your (current) problems. What you don’t hear about are the new problems this next best thing introduces thus initiating a next round of search for the next silver bullet. And so it goes on. From languages, to methodologies, to platforms, to frameworks, to products, to services, to concepts… and even, to people.
The health/fashion/insert-name industry are much the same. No surprises here with the next best thing promising to be the answer to all your health/fashion/insert-name problems. Even religion. The buzz words abound and we hop from program to trend to achieve the ultimate goal in the shortest possible time with the least amount of effort. Except that that is as far from the Holy Grail as Patagonia is from Jerusalem. Oh the irony.
If only the Holy Grail didn’t cleverly disguise itself as determination, passion and hard work we would more easily recognise it. Ah, if only the Silver Bullet came all neatly wrapped in shiny neon with colorful crinkle wrapper and in tablet form that you only had to take twice a day with meals. And if only the answer to all our problems were easily downloadable and came with a 30-day free trial. But it doesn’t. And whatever you’re being sold that does, is not it.
In tech, I’ve seen solutions soar on hardware-software combinations that defy marketing material. In sport, i’ve witnessed achievements that defy current trends. And in health, I’ve seen results that swim upstream the mainstream. I’ve also seen the opposite.
Kitted to the nines with all the latest garb, wizardry and ca$h, software systems have exploded with little more than a well-timed “boo”. Athletes train season after season with no progress. And people get unhealthier despite the many, many (many, many) diets. Ah… but this next one is guaranteed to work, right?
The (not-so) “secret” to all the success stories I’ve encountered in articles, experiences (first, second or third hand), stories told over the campfire, coffee chats, eavesdropping, documentaries- everywhere basically; is this:
work hard with passion. pay attention to detail. don’t give up (too soon). that is the holy grail. kinda like a Po-Reading-The-Dragon-Scroll-Moment. oh, and if you hit a tipping point you’ll probably make a living doing it too. score!