I’ve been thinking about a Jimi Hendrix interview I saw the other day, where he talks about how external validation isn’t what drives him to improve. In fact, he finds excessive praise to be distracting towards accomplishing his goals. This philosophy applies to school as well as life.
What makes Jimmy Henrik great is what we all know, right? He’s an amazing guitar player, but he was interviewed by someone, and they asked him, “Are you flattered by all this praise that you get being one of the best guitarists? And what he said to me surprised me. He said, Actually, I don’t like the praise and I don’t want to accept it. I don’t accept the praise because I’m going to get fat and lazy, and it will slow me down.”
And I realized this is a man who is possessed with getting better and getting and becoming great and not, frankly, not worrying about what other people are thinking about him. He was just locked in and I was thinking about school, right? That’s how you want to be at school, you want to be locked in. I don’t care whether you’re a top student or you know a student struggling, you have to work. You can’t be flattered and get over your head with praise from other people, especially your peers.
Do what Jimmy Hendrick did
You know those compliments, I mean you can’t let that distract you from your mission, right? That’s going to drag you down, accepting praise and also trying to seek validation all the time. Do you want to be a great student? You have to be laser-focused on working on getting better in class as well as learning. So, you dedicate yourself to learning and don’t care what people say to you; whether it’s good or bad around you, you’re going to be your best. It’s what Jimmy Hendrick did. That’s what you can do, too.
What is your biggest takeaway from this vlog about What Jimi Hendrix Would Say to High School Students in 2024? Do you have any questions for Alexis?
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