The 5 am club

Challenger
disaster, which broke so many hearts, was caused by
the failure of a single O-ring seal that some experts valued at seventy cents. A
horrific ending of lives was caused by a flaw around what appeared to be an
insignificant detail.”
“This all makes me think of the Dutch genius Vermeer,” the artist
contributed. “He was a painter who pursued work of the highest quality. He
experimented with different techniques that would allow natural light to fall
in a way that made his art look three-dimensional. There was such a depth to

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what he created. Such attractiveness to each stroke and such refinement in
every move. So, I agree too: The average artist has a really light, basic,
impatient approach to their painting. Their focus is more on the cash than on
the craft. Their attention is on the fame, not the finesse. I guess that because
of this, they never build the higher awareness and acumen that will help them
make the better choices that will give them the better results that will make
them the legends of their fields. I’m starting to get how powerful this simple
model is.”
“I love Vermeer’s 
Woman in Blue Reading a Letter
and, of course, 
Girl
with a Pearl Earring
,” said the billionaire, cementing the fact that he
appreciated great art.
“I love this insight that you’re sharing with us,” observed the entrepreneur
as her eyes widened. She then grasped the artist’s hand. Mr. Riley winked.
“I knew this was coming,” he muttered with obvious happiness on seeing
their growing romantic connection. He closed his eyes, once again. The
butterfly was still sitting on the ear of the eccentric tycoon. As it flapped its
exotic-colored wings, Mr. Riley spoke these words from the mighty poet
Rumi:
Gamble everything for love, if you are a true human being. If not, leave this gathering. Half-
heartedness doesn’t reach into majesty.
“Can I ask you a question?” wondered the entrepreneur.
“Absolutely,” replied the billionaire.
“How does this philosophy of rigor and granularity play out in personal
relationships?”
“Not well,” was the candid reply of the shirtless baron. “The Spellbinder
schooled me on a concept called ‘The Dark Side of Genius.’ Basically, the
idea is that every human gift comes with a downside. And the very quality
that makes you special in one area is the same one that makes you a misfit in
another. The reality is that many of the great virtuosos of the world had messy
private lives. The very gifts of seeing a vision few else could see, holding
themselves to the absolute highest of standards, being content alone for long
stretches of time as they worked monomaniacally detailing the most minor
points on their projects, behaving relentlessly in following through on their
masterpieces, acting with rarely seen self-discipline and listening to their
hearts while ignoring their critics made personal relationships hard. They
were misunderstood and seen as ‘difficult’ and ‘different,’ ‘rigid’ and
‘unbalanced.’”
The billionaire then fell to the sand and started doing more push-ups at a

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ferocious pace. Next, while staring at a white dove that glided over the roof of
his oceanside home, he did twenty burpees. Then he carried on.
“And many of these legends of creativity, productivity and world-class
performance 
were
out of balance,” the magnate stated. “They were
perfectionists, mavericks and fanatics. This is The Dark Side of Genius. The
very things that make you amazing at your craft can devastate your home life.
Just telling you cats the truth,” observed the billionaire as he sipped from a
water bottle that had tiny lettering on it. If you looked at it closely and
carefully, here’s what you’d read: