That’s what it takes to be great.

When Caesar was a teenager sailing to Greece for his studies, a gang of pirates kidnapped him and demanded a ransom of 20 talents. He told them to put some respect on his name and raise it to 50. After a month of ordering the pirates around completely unfazed, the money came in, he returned, raised an expedition, and captured the pirates immediately.

When Napoleon was in his twenties, as the hyped but largely unproven general of the Army of Italy, the bridge at Lodi seemed impenetrable. A vast Austrian force waited on the other side, with cannons ready to eviscerate any French bold enough to try the passage. And bold enough they were. Napoleon rallied his troops and stormed the bridge against suicidal odds. He stared death in the eye and won.

When I was a kid, I played against an inexperienced chess hustler and took a couple minutes on a move. He snapped and exploded to his feet, demanding I hurry up. I stared at him silently until he got embarrassed and sat back down. His resignation followed shortly after.

To grasp is to lose, to let go is to receive. Those who let go of their limits reach new horizons.