The World is Wide Enough (2024)

The World is Wide Enough (1)

I was just listening to the soundtrack from Hamilton for the umpteenth time. When I got to the 45th song, The World was Wide Enough, I realized that I had never made it through the whole track and this song was new to me.

I have personally been struggling with what success means to me. And for me, success’ ugly stepbrother is competition. Competition in the sense that if someone else does great, then I have been less great, or I have been less successful. In this song, Aaron Burr’s words resonated with me very strongly and shed a light on competition in a new and nuanced way.

In case you have not listened to the Hamilton soundtrack recently, here’s the song’s quick back story. Once colleagues, now competitors, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton have just had their famous dual with Hamilton dying as a result. And in the wake of his death, Burr’s final reflection goes:

I survived, but I paid for it

Now I’m the villain in your history

I was too young and blind to see...
I should’ve known, 
I should’ve known

The world was wide enough for both Hamilton and me

The world was wide enough for both Hamilton and me

His big insight in this moment is that there was room for them both to have success. It didn’t have to be Hamilton VERSUS Burr, it could have been Hamilton AND Burr. Unfortunately, only upon the death of Hamilton, did Burr realize that the world was wide enough for both of them to be successful.

With less dramatic outcomes (like a dual to the death!), this type of VERSUS approach permeates my world in many ways. I know college seniors who haven’t yet landed their first job and view with envy that peer who knows where she is going to work after graduation. Or how about that entrepreneur who just got featured in a podcast and you listen with a bit of a jaded point of view about the role of luck versus talent. Or my current favorite VERSUS is reading about a start-up company that sold for a gazillion times sales to a big corporation and my immediate reaction is not “congrats,” but that sucks for me because I have never done it!

So how in our lives do we create an AND mentality instead of a VERSUS mentality as we build our careers and seek success? How do we remain competitive, while not having competition bring out the worst in us? How do we celebrate the wins of others instead of having their win become our loss?

Here are my 5 Tips for Creating the AND Mentality:

1. Be clear on the outcomes (the wins) that are important to YOU. Sometimes we are jealous even when someone else’s success is nothing that we want!
2. Develop a PLAN to reach those outcomes. Gain control of your outcomes by putting concrete actions in place.
3. Dig deep into your reaction if someone’s win becomes your loss.Why is that? What was it about their win that felt bad to you? If you can articulate it, you can deal with it.
4. Think CONGRATS when you hear of someone else’s win! Try to train yourself to immediately celebrate the positive in others’ successes. Focus on how this impacts them NOT you!
5. Take time to celebrate your own wins, even the little ones! Success begets confidence and confidence begets more success.

And if you really want to get psyched about winning and taking ownership of your success, listen to the third song on the Hamilton soundtrack: My Shot.

Thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda for making history relevant to the business world!

The World is Wide Enough (2024)

FAQs

What is the meaning of the world was wide enough? ›

His big insight in this moment is that there was room for them both to have success. It didn't have to be Hamilton VERSUS Burr, it could have been Hamilton AND Burr. Unfortunately, only upon the death of Hamilton, did Burr realize that the world was wide enough for both of them to be successful.

What is the theme of the world was wide enough? ›

The song's meaning is: Hamilton wanted a legacy for his family but at the end he doesn't need anything. He spend much of his life looking for a legacy and at the end his legacy was that bullet and he didn't spend that much with his familly.

Whose perspective is the world was wide enough from? ›

Synopsis. The song begins in Burr's perspective. Burr states ten facts about the duel (particularly facts that made it clear that Hamilton had the advantage) as a reprise of "Ten Duel Commandments" plays, noting that the duel is taking place in the same spot where Hamilton's son was killed in a duel.

What song did Hamilton and Burr duel in? ›

Burr challenges Hamilton to a duel in the song “The World Was Wide Enough,” in which Hamilton, aiming his pistol to the sky, is fatally shot by Burr.

Why did Burr shoot Hamilton? ›

The final straw for Burr was the publication of a letter in a newspaper that said Hamilton demeaned Burr's character. Burr demanded Hamilton apologize for the insults or explain them. Hamilton stayed quiet, so Burr demanded a duel. Duels were common, and both men had experience with them.

What is the message of who lives who dies who tells your story? ›

The show's gut-wrenching final song gives us another way of putting it: 'Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story'. This song is all about the lengths Eliza went to make his legacy a reality. In memory of Hamilton, the orphan, she went on to establish the first private orphanage in New York.

Why did Aaron Burr and Hamilton duel? ›

It came in response to a letter published in a newspaper in which Dr. Charles D. Cooper had reported that in a dinner conversation Hamilton had called Burr “a dangerous man.” In Cooper's words, Hamilton also expressed a “more despicable opinion” of Burr. It was the loaded word despicable that drew Burr's focus.

What happened to Aaron Burr? ›

For a short period of time Burr left the United States to live as an expatriate in Europe. He returned in 1812 and resumed practicing law in New York City. Burr died on September 14, 1836, at the age of eighty.

Did Hamilton miss on purpose? ›

The seconds offered conflicting accounts of who shot first and what happened, whether Hamilton missed on purpose or whether he shot wide as a result of involuntarily discharging his pistol after being hit by Burr. In any case, Hamilton missed.

Did Hamilton hit Burr? ›

Each fired a shot from a . 56 caliber dueling pistol. Burr was unscathed; Hamilton fell to the ground mortally wounded. He died the next day.

Were Hamilton and Burr friends? ›

Despite being colleagues, the two were never friends. They had irrevocable political differences. Hamilton was a Federalist who supported strong central government; Burr a Democratic-Republican who believed in strong state level government. Their rivalry would truly begin in 1791.

Was Burr jealous of Hamilton in the play? ›

Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr are two politicians who grow up in strikingly similar ways- and throughout the Broadway play, Aaron Burr's jealousy for Hamilton's success drives him to eventually shooting him in a duel, resulting in Hamilton's death.

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