You Already Have What You Need for Success
I just ran across a great op-ed at HBR.org this afternoon by motivational psychologist and author, Heidi Grant Halvorson, Ph.D. The “Nine Things Successful People Do Differently” are within your reach; where you are today is only a frame of where you can be tomorrow.
As categorization goes, I like to think of three types of professionals – very successful, marginally successful, and clock puncher – and most of us have been in each one of those categories for varying lengths of time. If you’ve come this far, I imagine that your goal is to push the margin and spend more time in the very successful camp. While all nine actions mentioned above are essential, the two things I’ve found most useful in getting there are grit and working out your willpower muscle.
I don’t believe that you have to teach grit; you just have to push wants so far that they become needs. As for training your willpower muscle, do what the a smoker does to quit, replace your bad habits. Some experts recommend gum or lollipops, but I’ve found that a list of 10 other options is most effective. Consider this next time you find yourself scanning Facebook or G-chatting at work. What are the top 10 things you could be doing instead that will move you from clock puncher to marginally successful and then to the next level?
Do What Others Don’t
“I woke up one Saturday morning, and feeling terrible from happy hour the night before, I promptly sunk into the couch and threw on the first football game of the day. My roommate came in with a spring in his step as if he’d been awake for hours. I asked what he’d been doing all morning, and he replied that he had taken 1,500 photos of commercial properties… before I even considered rolling out of bed!!”
I heard that story recently from a very successful commercial real estate broker. He was talking about his friend, an even more successful broker ($10,000,000 in 10 years successful). He closed with this punchline, “to be successful in this business, or any business, you need to be willing to do the hard work that no one else is doing.”
Now, I’ve taken narrative liberties with this story to make it fit, but the facts are exactly as described. And judging by the newspaper articles and volume of sales, these facts are verifiable. The point is unmistakably important — ambition and discipline are essential to getting to your rich. Whether you want to make $10 million in 10 years or become a renowned artist in five, you need to be proving yourself in the areas that your competitors are not.
Think about what your boss or a more successful competitor gets recognized for. Can you do something similar? Can you innovate on that idea and set yourself apart even more?
Passion in Everything You Do
Check out this interview with Steve Case.
Think of every job as an entrepreneurial experience. After all, you have to define yourself in any new role and sell the one product you know most about… yourself and your skill set. Having passion for anything you commit to undertake will make the job so much more enjoyable. That passion will give you self-confidence, which infects everyone you encounter and sell your ideas to.
Put a Stake in the Ground
“In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” –Dwight D. Eisenhower
I’ve decided to move from Washington, DC, where I’ve spent the past 4.5 years, back to Fort Lauderdale, FL, where I grew up. The move was motivated by the sufficient alignment of various life events, but it was kicked off by one very crucial decision — setting the moving date.
We face decisions every day. Most are insignificant, like what to wear or where to eat, but some can have a major impact on your life. The foremost important factors in any decision are when and where; how comes later. My decision to move back to FL was driven by the expiration of my apartment lease so I had the when, and the where was finally determined by a thorough evaluation of the best place to achieve my 5 year goals.
By placing a stake in the ground we were able to start looking around for the best value in everything that goes into a move, including comparison of movers/DIY and storage. Further, I could point to a date-certain for my FL network to arrange any meetings when I arrive.
Major decisions need major stakes, but consider taking the initiative in even the simplest decisions among friends. Deciding on a restaurant is a perfect example. Set your stake on a date and time and then offer two options. Now, half of the problem is solved and you’ve had a chance to exercise your leadership muscles.
Subservience to Purpose
Watch this interview. Justin Menkes seems to have a great book here.
We all deal with stress everyday, and this will continue throughout our lives. I love the part of this interview about reframing the way you look at what seems mundane. Remember, if there wasn’t a purpose to what you are doing, you wouldn’t get hired and paid to do it.
Your full devotion to purpose will streamline everything you take on.
Sports and Motivation
The NBA Playoffs are approaching. This is the time of year when talent, character, and discipline are on full display for millions of viewers across the world. I’m not an avid basketball fan, but it’s tough to ignore two months of the best athletes in their sport struggling arm-in-arm for the privilege to hold the title of “Champion” for the next 365 days and lock their names in history as the season’s best.
This characterization is truly inspiring. In fact, sports analogies, across the board, lend themselves well to motivational literature. I would venture to guess that more than half of the books in the self-improvement section of your local bookstore were either written by a sports superstar or refer to one within their pages. It’s no coincidence; a professional level athlete is a clear symbol of all the characteristics that self-improvement literature tries to portray.
Consider your favorite professional sport: basketball, football, tennis, hockey, soccer, golf, you name it. While the required skill set and physical demands differ widely, they all involve disciplined practice and are characterized by a structured season with clear ranking system. The path to the top is simple and well-defined. Complement your physical endowments with proper, disciplined training. Compete in the required events at your greatest ability. And set your sights on first place. If you fail to become champion one season, simply double down and try again next season.
That sounds simple enough, but it is hard. Temptation and other distractions get in the way, which is why it’s lonely at the top. Now consider how this relates to your life. You have a certain set of endowments that define your physical and mental ability. Enrolling in school helped refine your strengths and improve your weaknesses. Along the way you are competing with yourself and your cohort to establish yourself as a champion at defined milestones — top-of-the-class, the best college, the best job, etc.
Life is not as structured as sports, though. Becoming the champion in your field does not arise from going to specific meetings or working on particular projects. Nor does a college education guarantee financial stability and a happy life. The challenge you face is establishing these milestones for yourself. Define what needs to happen for you to become a champion. Consult family and friends for their perspective, and enroll them in your journey for success. You will be able to get what you want only when you know what your ideal future life looks like.
The end of the NBA Playoffs mark the end of the 2010-2011 season. It also coincides, roughly, with the end of the first half of 2011. Use the next two months to define what you will do in the second half of the year to get to where you want to be. Define the training and milestones that will set you up to be a champion for the next season, the 2012 season.
Ask the Right Questions
Many aspects of life come down to how you frame them. We know this so well that we’ve come up with an army of idioms to describe it — from the fullness or emptiness of your glass to the greenness of another pasture. The real trick, though is using this knowledge to put life into perspective.
Today, I encourage you to choose someone you admire — say your future self, for example — and describe what you have in common and what is different about you and him/her. I often think about being a millionaire so I’ll use that example.
What do I have in common with a millionaire?
1. We both have 24 hours in a day
2. We both have ambition to be successful
3. We both are surrounded by a support structure of family and friends
4. We both are able to communicate well with other people
What do I not have in common with a millionaire?
1. I am not getting full price for my talents
2. I don’t have a million dollars
The person you admire is more similar to you than you think. We often get so wrapped up in life that we fail to re-frame the important questions. We tend to look at what we don’t have more than what we do and lose sight of our ability to become whatever we dream about.
After you know the similarities and differences, take a look at what you need to do to get to where you want to be. Frame these targets positively. That is, rather than setting a goal about “not being in financial distress,” set your goal around “being in financial excess.”
Take on this challenge today. What does your life today have in common with the life of your dreams? Number one: your current and future you are the same person — YOU!! You have the power to do anything you dream; just ask the right questions.
Welcome to Graduate Rich
Graduate Rich is founded on the principle that you are able to have the ideal life if you know what you want and are sufficiently driven to get it. The tagline is “Define Rich and Get It!” to emphasize the simplicity and power of this philosophy.
Within these pages you will find practical and motivational advice for finding a passion and building your ideal life. Please leave comments and reach me on Twitter @GraduateRich for additional explanation.
Best wishes,
John
