The Magic of Elon Musk

Author: David Perell URL: https://www.perell.com/blog/2016/9/3/the-magic-of-elon-musk One-line: An early-Perell meditation on Elon Musk — that his superhuman drive is both unachievable and undesirable for the average person, and that its roots lie in a traumatic childhood he coped with through obsessive Reading.

Key claims

• Musk’s standard of commitment is unachievable — and that’s fine. Average people are average because they prize deep relationships and share the same anxieties as everyone else; the drive for strong relationships is an integral part of the human condition. Aspiring to Musk’s level is “both harmful and undesirable.”
• One question drives him. Musk judges his success by asking: is my work helping humanity become a multi-planetary species? (cf. Space Travel) Deep commitment and laser Focus give him an unparalleled ability to out-work, out-think, and out-innovate everyone else.
• The drive is rooted in childhood trauma. Verbal abuse from his father and physical abuse from peers sent Musk to the library for emotional safety; he read every book in both the local and school libraries, stoked by comics and sci-fi where a hero saves the world (cf. Reading).
• He may simply not feel the pain others would call a “uniquely human” experience — letting him ignore naysayers and push through.
• The causal chain: “Goals breed commitment. Commitment breeds focus. Focus breeds achievement.” (Focus)

Notable quotes

“If there was a way that I could not eat, so I could work more, I would not eat. I wish there was a way to get nutrients without sitting down for a meal.” — Elon Musk

“Average people are average because they share the same anxieties and insecurities as everybody else.”

“Goals breed commitment. Commitment breeds focus. Focus breeds achievement.”

Kyle’s notes

Kyle: I, for one, spent my time playing sports outside, trying to beat video games, and hanging out with friends — adventurous and physically active, which contributed to my carefree and curious nature. I was never exposed to the same torment that so affected Musk in his formative years; torment that inspired him to explore himself intellectually in a way that most adults still have not.

How it connects

• David Perell — an early-career piece wrestling with the cost, not just the glory, of extreme ambition.
• Elon Musk — the subject; the Focus and pain-tolerance that define him.
• Reading — reading as both coping mechanism and the engine of Musk’s range.
• Space Travel — the multi-planetary mission that organizes everything he does.