Reading Reflection No. 1

Book of Choice: Elon Musk, Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance

What surprised me the most: Elon’s physical character and stature is something very uncharacteristic of what I’m used to expecting from tech nerds. He is six foot one, broad shouldered, and a big man. He’s the type of person that you would expect to have the persona of an alpha-male from an afar, but up close and deep down he’s rather timid and reserved to himself. He has an awkward look about him, and he’s not exactly the most socially and verbally adept individual. His public speaking skills are very lackluster for someone who is the CEO of multiple companies.

What I most admire about Elon: Elon genuinely has a passion, and I fear that’s something which is becoming more and more rare in today’s world where so many people pursue things just for money and fame. Elon, on the other hand, is driven entirely by his own will and his desire to make the world a better place. For Elon, his goal and hope are that when he dies, he will leave the world a better place, one step closer to a bright future, one where we thwart extinction and the destruction of our world as we know it. He wants to explore renewable energy, other planets, technology, and whatever he believes will move humanity in this direction.

What I least admire about Elon: Elon is a very authoritative and tenacious individual. While this can be a good quality in small doses, I find that he has too much of it in many regards. Elon is known for berating his employees, enforcing long work hours and working on weekends, and prioritizes the mission above all else. In my mind, that’s not much of a culture, and it puts off a very bad and negative image for his companies. Is he really a CEO, or is he more like a dictator? I find myself asking this question a lot. This is one thing I really don’t like about him. I believe in a more inclusive culture that treats its employees well.

Adversity/Failure Encountered: As a boy, Elon had a fairly tumultuous and tough upbringing. He grew up in South Africa, which prided masculinity in boys. However, he was always more on the reserved and more feminine side. He took great interest in books, learning, and reading, but not in sports. This made it very hard for him to fit in and to make friends. In addition, Elon’s father Errol had a very interesting dynamic. Elon said that he was very hardcore and strict, and that he would lecture his sons for hours on end without allowing them to talk. Elon refuses to tell stories about him, and is no longer in contact with him. This leads me to believe that there was some form of serious abuse going on here, as people often times will deny such things, especially in the public eye. However, despite all of this, Elon has become a highly polished and influential individual who has and continues to make an impact on humanity.

Competencies: Perhaps Elon’s biggest competencies are his tenacity and creativity. He’s an extremely stubborn person, the type to never take no for an answer, especially when it comes to one of his passions or ideas. He practically treats his employees like disposable resources, and is very hard and strenuous. Although I disapprove of this, I believe it is one of the reasons why he is so successful (in a worldly regard). His refusal to quit has brough a lot of progress, and he clearly seems to attract a lot of likeminded people to his companies that want to work for him.

In addition, Elon is not afraid to dream big and to challenge the status quo- it’s a part of his nature. No one had ever thought of PayPal, SpaceX, or many of his other ventures before him. Like Peter Thiel talks about, he is a zero to one. He does original things, and he does them well. Period.

Confusing: One thing that I found puzzling about Elon was his approach to dating and love. It almost seemed like he treats it like a game of sorts. He says that he wants to devote more time to it, but his attitude around it and how he talks about it make it seem like he just wants to do the bare minimum and that he just wants it for the sake of having it- I’m not sure that he has a very healthy perspective on it. However, I’m not sure that he has a healthy take on life at all, from how he works himself to the ground to how little he relaxes. It worries me for his mental health- it’s a wonder he hasn’t gotten burned out yet.

Question 1: Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you chose not to start your companies, or if you chose to pursue a different area or field? I ask this question to myself and to other people a lot- I find that everyone has a unique take on life, and a unique calling. Thus, we should always live our truths and never listen to anyone else when it comes to deciding what to devote our lives to (within reason and mora regards, obviously). I’d be curious to see Elon’s perspective.

Question 2: Do you have any regrets? People often times say that regret is the result of inaction, and Elon seems to be one to always take action. However, I feel that regret is universal, no matter what. I’d be curious to test this theory.

Elon’s Opinion of Hard Work: Elon doesn’t just appreciate hard work; he is hard work. Everything that he does embodies it and is it, as I’ve very clearly shown in all of the previous sections. When you think Elon Musk, you think hard work.

I personally have the same view, just to a lesser extent. I believe that life needs to be balanced and have a lot of different dimensions, but that one should work hard in all of them. Elon has a very hard-headed approach to all things, and so I’m not even sure that I could say it’s “hard work” to him in a normal person’s eyes. It’s more like a frenzy.