Being the avid reader (ok, audio book listener) that I am, biographies are always at the top of my list. I recently got though two recent biographies, one on the comedian Steve Martin and the other on cartoonist Charles Schultz, and I found them to paint a very different private persona than one might imagine from two men at the top of their games and with the world at their fingertips.

In Steve Martin's book Born Standing Up, it covers his years as a stand up comic, from his start as a youth working at Disneyland handing out guide maps and working at the Disneyland magic shop to years later playing to packed stadiums of twenty thousand screaming fans. I pretty much only covers the stand up years and delves a little into his initial forays into his burgeoning movie career. It also touches upon his personal life in regards to his immediate family and his upbringing. It is a wonderful read (and an excellent audio choice as Steve himself reads his life) and well worth a look from anyone even remotely interested in comedy, celebrity, creativity or an interest in entertainment in general.

The Charles Schultz biography entitled Schultz and Peanuts: a Biography, by David Michaelis is another fascinating look at a man who dedicated his life to the entertainment of others. The book covers the full gamut of Charles Schultz's life, from his very early childhood to his retirement and subsequent passing as a result of cancer. The book, thorough in it's dissection of a creative soul, is punctuated with the high and lows of "Sparky's" life, from early cartooning attempts, success, divorce, merchandising, marriage, raising children and everything in between.

One common thread I gleaned from both of these books is that to truly excel, a sacrifice of the soul must sometimes be made.

Both of these men, paragons of their craft, both suffered in silence and both set themselves on professional paths that secluded them from friends and family. Now, I'm not saying they were hermits or that a conscious decision was made that work took precedence over family, but in reading their stories it seems painfully apparent that their personal lives suffered for their professional lives. Only later in their lives, once they were more established, more settled were they able to strike a balance between work and family.

As I thought about this apparent truth, I could see it apply to other people as well. People who are at the very pinnacle of their chosen craft but whose personal lives do not measure up the level of success their professional lives maintain. Donald Trump, Tom Clancy, almost any major celebrity… the list goes on and on. Olympic athletes forego many of the trappings of a "normal" life in pursuit of an Olympic ideal. Young, energetic kids who cloister themselves in their parent’s basements and churn out Google or the next big technology. It seems to point to an unyielding truth that the fire and passion of youth as well as the absence of all other distractions is the true path to greatness.

For many though, the level of greatness they achieve is tempered by their desire to develop and retain personal bonds. People would rather be comfortable (and happy?) then strive for personal greatness. It seems that way for a majority of the population. And to each person, it is up to them to define their own personal parameters for greatness.