174. The reward for succeeding is the power to succeed some more
You probably heard the saying "nothing succeeds like success." It means:
a) if you look successful, you will increase people's confidence and therefore they will prefer to do business with you, thereby making you even more successful
b) if you are successful, then you feel more confident, and this drives you to persevere more, which leads to more success
A lot of people try to look successful, but I'm not sure it's the right way to go.
A better way perhaps is to actually be successful at small things, and to build on your (small) successes. That is, create a rhythm of achievement which will drive you to persevere more and strive for more success.
This sounds like common sense, yet many people who start a new career or a new business, often aim for big success. For instance, they either charge too much, or want the best clients, or set goals that are simply not realistic.
It's better to aim for small goals and reach them, than aim for big goals and not stand a chance!
I guess the important thing is to feel successful every step of the way. Feeling that one is successful is the best way to slowly but surely build self-confidence.
But for that to happen, one must be very skilled in the art of goal-setting. Your goal has to be just a little above your capability so you feel challenged, but not so much that you feel stressed about not being able to reach it.
Sometimes, you don't even need to have a goal. For example, you can:
"Do the fastest thing that will succeed the easiest."
In other words, do tasks where the ratio "effort/payoff" is lowest.
Inevitably, this means that the more you focus on using your talent, the more payoff you will get.
Eventually, you get to a point where the effort/payoff ratio is so low that you don't feel like you're working anymore!
In the end, everybody wants "big success": the luxurious house, the nicest car, the executive salary, total fulfillment in one's career, true love, etc.
Yet the secret may lie in designing each step, along the way, so that success is easy. In other words, "do the thing that will succeed the easiest and soonest, and repeat as often as you like."
If you can achieve this, then the journey will be far more enjoyable than the destination.
a) if you look successful, you will increase people's confidence and therefore they will prefer to do business with you, thereby making you even more successful
b) if you are successful, then you feel more confident, and this drives you to persevere more, which leads to more success
A lot of people try to look successful, but I'm not sure it's the right way to go.
A better way perhaps is to actually be successful at small things, and to build on your (small) successes. That is, create a rhythm of achievement which will drive you to persevere more and strive for more success.
This sounds like common sense, yet many people who start a new career or a new business, often aim for big success. For instance, they either charge too much, or want the best clients, or set goals that are simply not realistic.
It's better to aim for small goals and reach them, than aim for big goals and not stand a chance!
I guess the important thing is to feel successful every step of the way. Feeling that one is successful is the best way to slowly but surely build self-confidence.
But for that to happen, one must be very skilled in the art of goal-setting. Your goal has to be just a little above your capability so you feel challenged, but not so much that you feel stressed about not being able to reach it.
Sometimes, you don't even need to have a goal. For example, you can:
"Do the fastest thing that will succeed the easiest."
In other words, do tasks where the ratio "effort/payoff" is lowest.
Inevitably, this means that the more you focus on using your talent, the more payoff you will get.
Eventually, you get to a point where the effort/payoff ratio is so low that you don't feel like you're working anymore!
In the end, everybody wants "big success": the luxurious house, the nicest car, the executive salary, total fulfillment in one's career, true love, etc.
Yet the secret may lie in designing each step, along the way, so that success is easy. In other words, "do the thing that will succeed the easiest and soonest, and repeat as often as you like."
If you can achieve this, then the journey will be far more enjoyable than the destination.
posted by Super Peter at 11:06 PM
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