To enjoy enduring success we should travel a little in advance

John McDonald once offered this pearl of timeless wisdom: “To enjoy enduring success we should travel a little in advance of the world.” These words, though brief, are filled with the fire of foresight. They remind us that true greatness does not come by walking in the shadow of the multitude, nor by following the well-trodden path of comfort. Rather, it is achieved by stepping forward into the unknown, anticipating what the world will one day see, and preparing the ground before others arrive. To travel in advance of the world is to live not only in the present, but in the future.

The origin of this idea lies in the eternal truth that every achievement is born of vision. The farmer who sows before the rains secures the harvest; the captain who studies the stars before the storm survives the sea. History itself is a long witness to those who moved ahead of their time. The masses laughed at the first inventors, resisted the first explorers, and mocked the first prophets. Yet in every age, it is those who dared to go ahead—those who “traveled in advance”—who carved the future for the rest.

Consider the great voyage of Christopher Columbus. While many feared the western seas, he trusted his vision and sailed into waters thought impassable. He was mocked, doubted, resisted, but he pressed forward. His discovery, though tangled with the tragedies of conquest, was nonetheless the beginning of a new age. Columbus had traveled ahead of the world, and the world, stumbling and reluctant, followed after him. Enduring success belongs not to those who stay behind but to those who anticipate and dare.

The ancients also bore witness to this. The philosopher Socrates lived ahead of his city’s spirit. While Athens prized wealth, victory, and rhetoric, Socrates sought truth, virtue, and the examined life. For this, he was condemned, yet his teachings endured, shaping the minds of Plato, Aristotle, and the world beyond. His success was not seen in his own day but in the centuries that followed. Truly, he had walked “a little in advance of the world,” and though the world resisted, it eventually caught up to him.

McDonald’s wisdom is also practical. To travel a little ahead does not mean to run recklessly into fantasy, but to take one or two steps beyond what is comfortable, beyond what is common. The wise do not seek to abandon the world, but to prepare it. The innovator who sees the needs of tomorrow and builds today will endure. The leader who anticipates the next season and readies his people will be remembered. To walk slightly ahead is to be a guide; to walk too far ahead is to be lost. Balance is the secret of this teaching.

The lesson is radiant: enduring success is built upon foresight, courage, and preparation. If you remain always where the world is, you will fade when the world changes. But if you step just beyond, with steady vision, you will endure while others falter. The future rewards those who dare to meet it early.

Practically, this means cultivating habits of vision: read widely, think deeply, watch the signs of the times. Do not cling only to what is, but imagine what might be. In your work, in your art, in your relationships, dare to prepare for what others cannot yet see. And when the world finally arrives where you have already walked, you will stand as one who is ready, unshaken, and enduring.

Thus, John McDonald’s words shine across the ages: “To enjoy enduring success we should travel a little in advance of the world.” To follow is to fade, but to walk a step ahead is to guide. May we too have the courage to take that step, not recklessly, but wisely, and in doing so, secure not only our own success, but a path for those who follow.