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In less than a week, Britain could be led by a man with a capacity for work that his friends say is phenomenal, fierce and slightly exhausting to watch.
I discovered this last week after reading one of the numerous biographies of Keir Starmer, or as I have come to think of him, Keir Starmina.
The Labour leader, who polls suggest will be British prime minister after the July 4 election, can work and work on “ridiculously small amounts of sleep”, according to one of his ex-girlfriends, lawyer Phillippa. Kaufman.
“Keir’s ability to work is absolutely phenomenal,” he told his biographer Tom Baldwin. “I’ve never met anyone like him.”
Starmer’s Stakhanovite tendencies were evident from the beginning. “I have never seen anyone able to study like him,” reported a school friend who remembered him “at his desk for hour, after hour, after hour.”
One person who knew him at university said that, when everyone else was devastated after a big night out, “Keir would always get up at six the next morning and continue with his studies.”
And one of his oldest friends said that Starmer’s discipline and drive were so great that “sometimes I get tired just thinking about the life he leads.”
Reading all of this reminded me of an uncomfortable truth about modern work life and the profusion of goals, time management, and email.batch processing productivity “Tricks“We are constantly told that it will accelerate us to professional success. None are a match for the built-in resilience of a Starmer.
This should be obvious. But I don’t think it’s in a world where publishers produce as many as three books a day on how to be more productive at work and sites like TikTok burst with tips on how to make it faster.
The result of this industrial orientation is the belief that productivity skyrockets once one adopts the right work habits and practices. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.
I began to understand the importance of physical durability in my mid-twenties, when I approached a famous older reporter and asked her the secret to success in journalism.
I was hoping to hear her talk about the art of extracting information from sources; or be well informed, or write well. Instead, she gave an abrupt one-word response: “resistance.”
I found this strange, but over time I began to see evidence of her point. Many people who have been persistently successful continue to work while less capable physical beings wither away from exhaustion, flu or general failure of function. The journalist remains, at the time of writing, a prolific commentator, researcher and writer, just days away from turning 80.
Mental toughness, like physical toughness, is a gift, although it has its drawbacks.
Once, Starmer was so engrossed at his desk in a flat he shared in London that he didn’t notice two thieves inside smashing the television and video recorder.
Life with a ruthless worker can also take a toll on family and co-workers.
“To bed, woman!” Denis Thatcher would say. sometimes Tell that to his wife Margaret, the late British prime minister who was said to be able to survive on just four hours of sleep a night.
Opinions differ on how well Baroness Thatcher functioned on so much sleep, which is comforting for those of us who prefer at least seven good hours of sleep.
Fortunately, belonging to the sleep elite is much less fashionable now that work-life balance is taken seriously. It’s also worth remembering that endurance doesn’t guarantee success.
The business world has long been full of executives who boast about how little they sleep, but very few rise to the heights of a CEO like Apple’s. Tim Cook, WHO has said He likes to wake up before 4am, send emails for an hour and exercise before going to work.
Then there is the current British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. He reportedly He works around the clock, even on weekends. His usually diligent attitude toward work has never been in doubt. However, polls suggest that he is about to lead his party to a defeat of terrible proportions.
Ultimately, it’s a reminder that the ability to work hard will get you far in life, but it won’t always be enough to achieve lasting success.