Why Some People Succeed

When successful people are asked what they did in order to achieve such success? Generally, their reply is “Do the things that you love to do”. That is it.

Don't you roll your eyes and think, "Yeah! We’ve been doing that and nothing comes close". Seems like there’s nothing more to digest from that.

What is success, anyway? Being published in the magazine or featured on national tv is not a gauge of that. That is fame.

Success is the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted (thefreedictionary.com). Three strong words with a qualifier - achieved. So that means luck has nothing to do with it.

I made my own observation with the people that I met who made their own stamp of success. These are like the folks around whom you could relate with their experience. Below are my observations:

1. They have acquired the skill and attitude early in life. I knew someone, still in high school, started closing business deals with her classmates and now manages several stores to her name. Sports stars do not start their career at 30. If you ask them where they got those skills, most would refer to an experience early in life that gave them enthusiasm and was sustained ever since.

2. They have been doing it for many years. We trust them at what they do because they have gone through it. Only by doing one thing or having experienced it is the only way they would know how to manage it. Expert opinions are always available, but we always trust someone who have tried it themselves.

3. They have made commitments on them. Most people that I know go beyond the learning and putting-into-action phase. They get into the trend and design it for them. Some, on the small scale, do it like participating in communities or focus groups that affects them. Others, on the larger scale, enact their beliefs and principles into laws or regulations if need be.

4. They kept a balanced life. They are very sociable. They enjoy leisure activities. They take care of themselves and dress properly. They enjoy small talks. They love to laugh. They also have quirky hobbies and weird nuances. The import thing to note is that, it is not a task or something they make up. They have embraced life and everything along with it.

5. They recognize that they did not do it alone. This is the most beautiful and humbling admission of successful people. He is a reflection of those people who took the journey to where he is now. And he takes them with his success.

Basically, success is not an overnight undertaking. We wonder why it comes easy to them? Because it has already been hard-wired to their system.

This is the thing where we most fail. We have been waiting for the right thing at the right time. All the while we have been missing on things we could have been.