I love superheroes, pretty much always have. I’ve read thousands of comic books and seen more TV shows and movies dealing with people who dress up in tight clothing and fight other people dressed up in tight clothing. What I find most entertaining is the fact that the stories are written to be as realistic as possible given the unrealistic world they are based in. You believe that Batman was so driven by his parent’s death that his focus is only on preventing that from happening to someone else. So each night he patrols the city, looking for crime to stop. One thing I’ve always wondered is: when does he sleep?

Recently in a comic book, Batman revealed that he slept 4 hours a night. Since he is a millionaire playboy, be probably doesn’t have to show up to work until 10 so he could easily stay up until 5 or 6 in the morning and still have plenty of time for his millionaire duties and then his nocturnal patrolling. But that is not the point. The point is that have you ever encountered someone whose whole life is so focused on a single goal or action that everything else falls to the wayside?

I feel there is a fine line between dedication and obsession. Truly one of the greats of a sport, say Larry Bird, works hard to be the best. Let’s face it; Larry Bird played a lot of basketball before he ever signed with the Celtics. He shot hoops in high school and college and practiced constantly. He had to sacrifice many things, including time with friends, so he could be the best he could be. In the end he made it, but was it worth it?

Now it is entirely possible that it was worth it and making it to the top certainly is its own reward. But what about the people who do the same amount of work but just don’t make it? What becomes of them? I read recently that there was a former pro-football player who created a company that’s sole purpose is to help former pro athletes adjust to life after sports. Think about that for a second, it makes being let go from a team sound similar to returning home after being at war. There needs to be some adjustment in your perceptions and how you live your life so you can transition back into “normal” life.

The difficult aspect of this concept is the fact that to truly make it to the top of whatever it is you want to excel at, you will have to make sacrifices and your life will not be in balance. This thing, be it basketball, golf, writing, or whatever, will take an inordinate amount of your resources and that is ok. When it stops being ok is when it becomes so obsessive that the quality of your life becomes noticeably lessened. At that point you need to reevaluate your priorities and consider just what cost you are willing to pay for success.

Back to Batman. Think of all the money he spends on Batmobiles, utility belts, Batplanes, etc. Imagine the good he could do for Gotham City if he actually used that money for social programs and police support? Granted the stories would not be very exciting and thus the cape and cowl, but consider that there are many solutions to a particular obsession. You just need to figure out the best one for you.