When he decided to run for president Barack Obama violated a fundamental rule of nature. In fact, it’s a rule he knows well, one which he previously insisted he would never violate: The “law of nature” called “first prove yourself.”

Upon first being elected to national office as a U.S. Senator in 2004 (and without any gubernatorial experience or other service as a chief executive) he was immediately asked if he would run for president in 2008. Totally denying any such plans, Obama noted how foolish that would be given his inexperience. “I don’t operate that way,” he insisted. Quicker than you can say “jack rabbit” he proceeded to violate that principle—after less than a hundred days on the job. This swift shift suggests that running to the White House was his true intentions all along. It also represents a hidden confession that indeed he does operate in this fashion. (The unconscious “blink mind” often tells the truth through a conscious denial—a basic rule of profiling. See deeperintelligence.com for "blink" = unconscious.)

What does such behavior say about Obama’s impulsivity? What does it say about his lack of principle and his lack of patience? In case we missed his “blink mind’s” self-profile, we have only to turn to the opening lines of his book Audacity of Hope. There, straight from his “blink mind,” we find a similar warning for us and a warning for himself:

“It’s been almost ten years since I ran for political office. I was thirty-five at the time, four years out of law school, recently married and generally impatient with life.”

Likewise, his vice-presidential running mate, Joe Biden, had observed Barack breaking that same rule of success. Earlier this year, when Biden was running against Obama for the Democratic Party’s 2008 nomination, he declared, “Obama lacks the experience to be president.”

Once again we turn to the world of sports to gain greater understanding of the laws of success and success blind spots—specifically the law which admonishes “don’t go too far the first time.” Andre Agassi’s tennis coach, Nick Bollettieri, put it best after Agassi lost in the finals of the French Open—as a 16 year-old tennis phenom—when he said, “If Andre had won he would have violated a law of nature.” Clearly, Bollettieri recognized that, in the long run, it was best that Agassi lost that particular tournament.

What did Bollettieri know about this particular law of nature—read law of success—which applies to Obama and to his supporters? Clearly he knew all about the importance of paying your dues and working your way up slowly but surely. Clearly he understood the danger of early success, particularly “undeserved success.” Bollettieri had seen the high price people had paid for ascending the ladder of success too quickly.

Early success creates unbelievable stress—raw, unadulterated fear hidden in the “blink mind” easily masked with hubris or false confidence, at least at first. Regardless of the surface mask, however, the signs of fear will be there and we will detect them if we look closely enough. Songwriter Randy Newman, who had a Broadway hit late in his career at age 52, contrasted how much better he handled success the second time around. “I’ve never seen anyone have early success without it just shaking them to their core,” he said. Too many times Newman had witnessed show-business colleagues unable to handle success. His poignant message of how much fear surrounds success is right on target.

If we want a presidential example of the danger, we have to look no further than Bill Clinton who repeatedly self-sabotaged despite his significant abilities. Yet Clinton’s inability to handle success went largely overlooked. Later we will explore striking similarities between Clinton and Obama.

We will also ask why Obama’s supporters have so uncritically violated the same crucial “law of success”—the rule of experience and staying power. In so doing they desire to place the country in the hands of a man who is in over his head, who has warned us he is not ready for the job. In and of itself this is a retreat from success—one more part of the picture of America’s serious struggle with success.

But first we will look at other ways Obama’s “blink mind” has warned us he’s not yet ready for the job.

Summary

  • Obama is violating a rule of nature running for president so early
  • Obama confesses to violating own wisdom and inexperience
  • In his book Obama admits to being impatient
  • Significant pressure and tendency to self-sabotage with early success