The Solo Hero Fallacy

We live in a culture that glorifies the solo hero.

The lone game-changer who swings the battle single-handedly.

The star CEO who “built it from scratch.”

The GOAT who “carried” their team to the title.

It makes for great headlines—but it’s a lie.

No one wins alone.

Great founders and CEOs have partners, advisors, mentors, and loyal teams.

Even Michael Jordan needed the Bulls and Coach Phil Jackson.

Yet since childhood, we’re taught that asking for help is a sign of weakness.

That success only counts if we do it on our own.

In school, collaborating during tests was “cheating.”

This belief makes life harder than it needs to be.

I’ve fallen for this trap myself—defaulting to monk mode to accomplish my goals.

It worked at first, especially in school, which fooled me into thinking this was the winning formula.

But I learned the hard way that I was paying hidden taxes:

I was less consistent and burned out more often.

I had blind spots no one caught.

The journey was less fun and more lonely.

And I missed opportunities that no one told me about.

I became a victim of my own success—mistaking effort and pride for intelligence.

It’s self-evident that when we collaborate, we can achieve more than any one person could alone.

It’s how we survived in the savannahs in primordial times.

It’s why we live in cities or build companies together.

Without the help of others, few of us would survive very long.

Who Not How

Peak performers don’t just work harder—they work harder at working smarter.

They ask:

What are you uniquely good at and love doing?

Where do your efforts make the biggest impact?

Then find people to do everything else—faster and better than you could

Ask yourself:

When you have the right who, the how becomes easier—or even irrelevant.

Others have skills you don’t, and enjoy things you hate.

So, they can save you time, effort, and frustration.

It’s a win-win.

That’s the power of Who Not How, **a concept I learned from Dan Sullivan’s book of the same name.

The thing, though, is that for many of us it’s hard to ask for help because of our conditioning.

But if your goal is truly as important as you claim it is…

Be committed to your goal and mission, not to your past self.

Or you’ll make the journey harder than it needs to be.

And put your goal in jeopardy.

Instead, go at it with every tool you have in your arsenal.

Don’t listen to that voice that whispers, “I should be able to do this myself.”

Learn to ask for help.

Learn to use AI.

Learn to master group flow states to turbo-charge productivity and creativity.

There are infinite power-ups available to you.

You never want to fail because you didn’t prepare well enough.

The Force Multiplier: Partner Accountability

If you want consistency, you don’t need more willpower or to try harder.

You need a system that makes follow-through automatic.

That’s what accountability gives you.

According to the American Society for Training & Development:

Accountability is a force multiplier.

I have multiple accountability partners and coaches—and it’s been game-changing.

Most avoid it for fear of “bothering” others or seeming weak.

But it’s not weak—it’s smart.

Partnering up benefits both parties:

• Progress is more fun and meaningful when shared.

• You get to learn from and inspire each other.

• You lift each other up when tired or discouraged.

• You hold each other to a higher standard and stay focused on your goals in the face of distractions.

• You get reminded about your progress when you’re being too hard on yourself or feel behind.

• You point out each other’s blind spots.

Often, your partner doesn’t even need to intervene—just knowing they’re there keeps you on track and helps you self-correct.

Whether you’re struggling or already performing at a high level, the right partner will take you even higher…

The Hidden Benefits You’ve Been Getting for Free

When I left the corporate world, I noticed something strange.

No more external deadlines.

No more bosses.

Just me, my goals, and too much freedom.

The autonomy I had wanted turned out to be a double-edged sword.

Without structure, even the most driven people drift.

Jobs and schools have external accountability built in.

Someone expects you to show up at your best, and there are consequences if you don’t.

Deadlines, others relying on you, and feedback create urgency and discipline without you having to generate them yourself.

These are positive externalities—benefits you didn’t create, yet enjoy, often without realizing it.

Working for a company or in a team gives you motivation and consistency for “free”.

When you’re solo—whether as an entrepreneur, on a personal project, or becoming the boss after a promotion—many of those benefits vanish.

But most of us never think to replace them.

The result? Maintaining discipline requires more energy.

And sometimes we beat ourselves about it, thinking we should perform as easily as before.

The right partner or coach gives you these benefits at a fraction of the energy it would take alone—freeing you to focus on your highest-leverage work while protecting you from blind spots and excuses.

As physicist Richard Feynman warned:

Without someone to answer to, it’s easy to rationalize, delay, or give up.

Excuses sound convincing in your head until you say them out loud to the right person, and you hear the flaws instantly, often before they have a chance to point them out.

In my coaching, I do a lot of listening—creating space for my clients to share.

Almost always, as they talk me through their challenge, the lightbulb comes on and they realize they know the solution, and commit to taking action, without any input from me.

Accountability is the bridge between intention and consistent execution.

So ask yourself:

Next Steps

In the next article in this Habit-Building Series, we’ll tackle another blind spot that sabotages follow-through: the Fog of War and the Dunning-Kruger effect.

And the week after, I’ll show you the nuts and bolts of setting up an accountability system that makes consistency inevitable.

For now:

1. Reflect: When have you failed to follow through on a goal? Which of today’s ideas could’ve changed the outcome?

2. Comment below with your biggest takeaway.

3. Share this article with someone who could benefit.

4. Subscribe here for weekly, practical performance insights.

5. Read the prior articles in my Habit Building Series:

   • Part 1 — Stuck In A Rut? Reclaim Your Mornings, Change Your Life

   • Part 2 — This 5-Minute Method Makes Motivation Irrelevant

   • Part 3 — How Peak Performers Turn Work Into Play

Let’s be all we can be!

— Ovi