I want to share one of the most valuable secrets with you. It’s so cherished, that some people spend their entire lives trying to figure this out. It’s one of those things that everyone is capable of, but yet still isn’t for everyone, so rare, that your ability to decode it may even be considered an idiosyncrasy. So, I have no choice but to to share this! because if I don’t, it would be selfish of me. I would be neglecting all the light bulbs that read my posts, leaving them in the dark and not fulfilling the true purpose of this blog.
I met a guy named John-Ross about 2 years ago, and he said something that stuck with me ever since. I have so much respect for him, for in his humility he’s a very unique salesman. If he ever reads this he may disagree, because he’s a medicine major on his way to becoming on of the most influential doctors our country has ever seen. I loved talking to this guy, merely because he was just so brilliant. I remember him saying to me “Akeem, it’s really not that hard. You just study the greats, take notes, and eventually you become one.” I was blown away, because that’s the truth, it really is that simple.
All great people have a series of characteristics in common, and it’s these traits that allow them to soar high above others. I’m going to just talk about the ones I think are the most important, because once these are in place, everything else follows swiftly.
ADOPT THE RIGHT MINDSET
Our perceptions and opinions shape the reality we live in. How we think about ourselves and others, affects how we interact with our world. Everything starts in our minds, and what we really believe about anything, determines the roll we play in its outcome. What having the right mindset simply entails, is a consistent positive outlook on a situation,one that’s free from doubt and unbelief. We have to know that this is what we want to do, and that we’re going to do it regardless. Research shows that mental approach is vital. Persons process information and retain it longer, when they want more information on what they’re doing, allowing them to seek other perspectives. What this does, is open up our ability to see long-term, and gives us access into the world of visionary thinking. It’s this kind of focused thought processing, that propels us forward, and allows us to keep standing even when we’ve fallen a million times. Which moves me to my next point.
HOW TO VIEW FAILURE
Michael Jordan said, “I’ve failed over and over in my life, and this is why I succeed”. Some people like to think that failure is not an option for them, but me, I disagree completely. Our focus should never be on failure, because we know that what we focus on expands, but we should definitely embrace our ability fail. Failure is such a beautiful opportunity, it opens the door for us to readjust, reinvent or recreate, and it gives us another chance to do what we love to do, better. We can’t be scared to fail, we just have to see it as nothing more than another chance for us, because if our mindset concerning it is warped, it will be a huge stumbling block towards us moving forward. Therefore never quit, even when it appears as though you’ve lost, because the truth is you win some and you learn some, you only truly fail when you give up.
NO SUBSTITUTE FOR HARDWORK
The last major conclusion is that nobody is great without work. It’s nice to believe that if you find the field where you’re naturally gifted, you’ll be great from day one, but it doesn’t happen that way. There’s no evidence of high-level performance without experience or practice. Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers speaks about the 10,000 hour rule. He claims that mastery in any field, to a large extent, is a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours. I agree with this because 10,000 hours is a lot of time, and simply because it just make sense. We have to devote our time to what is called “deliberate practice.” It is activity that’s explicitly intended to improve performance, that reaches for objectives just beyond one’s level of competence, involving high levels of repetition. Hard work is at the core of high level achievement, and if you neglect it, success will neglect you.
To conclude, the reality is that we are not hostage to a naturally granted level of talent. We can make ourselves what we will, although that idea is not that popular. Maybe we can’t expect most people to achieve greatness because it’s just too demanding, but the striking, liberating news is that greatness isn’t reserved for the “preordained,” but to everyone who’s willing to do what it takes, and that’s what makes them so special.
so in the mean time….
be inspired!
INNOVATE. TO. FLY. 