Ben Wilson

And he quotes Kobe as saying, it was easy to size other players up in the NBA. I found that a lot of guys played for financial stability. Once they got that financial stability, the passion, the work ethic, and the obsessiveness was gone. Once I saw that, I thought this is going to be like taking candy from a baby. No wonder Michael Jordan wins all these championships. All right.

And he quotes Kobe as saying, it was easy to size other players up in the NBA. I found that a lot of guys played for financial stability. Once they got that financial stability, the passion, the work ethic, and the obsessiveness was gone. Once I saw that, I thought this is going to be like taking candy from a baby. No wonder Michael Jordan wins all these championships. All right.

So I think, you know, Bach probably had the same phenomenon. A lot of guys are just trying to land a job as a as an organist or a court musician. And once they do that, OK, I'm settled. I'm good. They're not pushing to be great. But he did. And so that's my second takeaway. My first takeaway is belief. And I think the second takeaway flows naturally from it.

So I think, you know, Bach probably had the same phenomenon. A lot of guys are just trying to land a job as a as an organist or a court musician. And once they do that, OK, I'm settled. I'm good. They're not pushing to be great. But he did. And so that's my second takeaway. My first takeaway is belief. And I think the second takeaway flows naturally from it.

If you sincerely believe in what you're doing, then you're going to want to make it excellent, to make it as good as it can possibly be. And so the second takeaway is to pursue greatness. Speaking of David Senra, if you like How to Take Over the World, you will probably also love Founders. It's a podcast much like How to Take Over the World, but it's specifically for and about founders.

If you sincerely believe in what you're doing, then you're going to want to make it excellent, to make it as good as it can possibly be. And so the second takeaway is to pursue greatness. Speaking of David Senra, if you like How to Take Over the World, you will probably also love Founders. It's a podcast much like How to Take Over the World, but it's specifically for and about founders.

It's one of the few podcasts that I really look up to and admire. David does a great job, and his episodes are always packed with amazing insights. As you just saw, I used some of them in my own show. Just about all his episodes are great, but if you're looking for one to start with... You might start with episode 376 about Jensen Huang, founder of NVIDIA. I love that one.

It's one of the few podcasts that I really look up to and admire. David does a great job, and his episodes are always packed with amazing insights. As you just saw, I used some of them in my own show. Just about all his episodes are great, but if you're looking for one to start with... You might start with episode 376 about Jensen Huang, founder of NVIDIA. I love that one.

Or episode 370 about Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA. I love that one too. But he has tons of great episodes. Honestly, you can start anywhere and you'll probably get a great episode. So check it out. That is Founders, wherever you get your podcasts.

Or episode 370 about Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA. I love that one too. But he has tons of great episodes. Honestly, you can start anywhere and you'll probably get a great episode. So check it out. That is Founders, wherever you get your podcasts.

So after Bach goes to Mulhausen, he spends a year and a half there, composes some great music, gets in trouble with the city council again for many of the same reasons, quarreling with musicians, writing music that's too difficult to perform, as well as for at least one new reason, which is, as mentioned before, he is caught with an unknown woman in the choir loft.

So after Bach goes to Mulhausen, he spends a year and a half there, composes some great music, gets in trouble with the city council again for many of the same reasons, quarreling with musicians, writing music that's too difficult to perform, as well as for at least one new reason, which is, as mentioned before, he is caught with an unknown woman in the choir loft.

He claims he is just giving her voice lessons. This is a family show, so I won't say anything more, but the jokes practically write themselves. But then a year and a half later, he transfers to Weimar. It's only 18 months that he's in Molhausen, which, if you'll recall, he starts his career in Weimar briefly. He's there for six months as a court musician.

He claims he is just giving her voice lessons. This is a family show, so I won't say anything more, but the jokes practically write themselves. But then a year and a half later, he transfers to Weimar. It's only 18 months that he's in Molhausen, which, if you'll recall, he starts his career in Weimar briefly. He's there for six months as a court musician.

He leaves Molhausen for the same reason that he left Arnstadt, which is the conditions in Molhausen were better than in Arnstadt, but still not what he wants. Both of these are relatively small towns. We're talking, you know, 5,000, 10,000 people. And he's technically just an organist. at Weimar as he was in both of these other towns, but he's actually highly recruited to be there.

He leaves Molhausen for the same reason that he left Arnstadt, which is the conditions in Molhausen were better than in Arnstadt, but still not what he wants. Both of these are relatively small towns. We're talking, you know, 5,000, 10,000 people. And he's technically just an organist. at Weimar as he was in both of these other towns, but he's actually highly recruited to be there.

And he's more highly paid than some of the management, some of the brass. And after six years of being sort of a overqualified organist, he is officially promoted to Konzertmeister, okay, music director. The benefit of being in Weimar is that it is a dukedom. So Germany at this time is not a nation state. It's not a country. There is no, entity called Germany, geographic expression.

And he's more highly paid than some of the management, some of the brass. And after six years of being sort of a overqualified organist, he is officially promoted to Konzertmeister, okay, music director. The benefit of being in Weimar is that it is a dukedom. So Germany at this time is not a nation state. It's not a country. There is no, entity called Germany, geographic expression.

What there is is the Holy Roman Empire, which is a jumbled mess of all these territories and claims. Some of them are run directly by the church. They are for all intents and purposes owned by the bishop, by the church, I mean the Catholic church, right? Some are free cities belonging to no particular nobility, not to the church. They're a city controlled by its city council.

What there is is the Holy Roman Empire, which is a jumbled mess of all these territories and claims. Some of them are run directly by the church. They are for all intents and purposes owned by the bishop, by the church, I mean the Catholic church, right? Some are free cities belonging to no particular nobility, not to the church. They're a city controlled by its city council.