My morning began with the voice of David Brooks tearing down the elite class – it was a voice that I hadn’t heard for the longest of times, after procrastinating on replying a text message from someone for the longest of times.

I think that it is worth a watch.

Beyond what’s implied by the title of the video, Brooks discusses the evolution of merit, how the ‘elite’ was once defined and redefined in America as the Mayflower class transitioned into classes at Harvard and Stanford – how behaviors designated as desirable for our future leaders evolved through time as the generation took a turn and the world evolved.

Midway through the video, I realized that I was distracted and thinking of something else – I began thinking about things that weren’t really related to what I was reading – but somehow through the pathway of internal reflections, a part of my conscience led me to read his “How The Ivy League Broke America” in its full 10871 word glory.

Many thoughts went through my head at that point and still are at the moment – but Brooks expressed it better in that piece than I can, and I suggest that you read it.

For what it’s worth though, here’s what I’ll say:

His thoughts made me tap into an intuition that I’ve been having for a while – that intelligence isn’t really the primary determinant of life outcomes, and that there are other qualities and characteristics that I need as a person to continue pushing forward to have a fuller life, fuller existence, and everything else.

Even now, my thoughts are evolving, and who I am as a person is changing – and it is fascinating to see that process take place, even if I’m not constantly watching every single detail of it – but that’s a story for another day – and here is the real one.

What I will say is that it was nice to have someone I met in Malaysia send this to me though, to care about what I had thought, and to continue investing in that bond and in my growth, my development, and my onward progress, and I would like to honor that by doing even better in this end of the year that I ever have before.

Thanks for sending me this, and sorry for procrastinating on replying you.