Sunday Snapshot 10/02/16 
Drive and determination: How often does someone actually express a single, definite goal driving their accumulation of personal wealth? That's what Elon Musk did this past week when explaining his plan for making humanity a species that occupies multiple planets instead of just one, and it's likely the secret behind the kind of determination and focus the SpaceX and Tesla founder is known for. The expression 'eyes on the prize' can be misleading because it's prone to easy interpretations, which can lead you to believe that what it implies is that if you just focus on some arbitrary goal you set for yourself, it'll help motivate your through tough challenges and demanding situations. But Musk's honest and simple declaration that making humans an interplanetary species was the only reason he had for building any kind of personal fortune (reiterated simply, but with a clearheaded determination) is not the dreamy goal creation scheme of so many self-help hacks. Musk's clear-eyed focus is even more evident in his admission that he likely won't even go to Mars, and that he definitely won't be among the first, for various reasons including that he wants to see his kids grow up. That means his spacefaring ambitions are not the ego-driven grandstanding of someone like a Richard Branson (or perhaps a Bezos, though I'm not entirely sure that's what drives the Amazon founder sky-high hopes, either); instead, they would seem to be the product of coolly conducted analysis, reaching what is (at least to Musk), the most logical possible conclusion. In other words, the goal that drives and has driven Musk is one that makes eminent sense to the one who holds it, even if it appears almost completely insensate to a good portion of outside observers. And while its scope is almost beyond understanding for the average person, for Musk it's clearly as procedurally achievable as a product launch. This is where the difference is integral, and where many would-be Musk's among the entrepreneurial crowd will probably aim to emulate the SpaceX chief, but fail to understand what's worthy of emulation. Soaring ambition, and a desire to pull off something that appears impossible (especially when couched in vague generalities like "making the world a better place" or "touching the lives of as many people as possible") is not enough – determination can't survive countless reversals (Musk has seen many) in pursuit of a goal with no tangible reality. | 
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