Keys to Success

Success is finding out what you are good at and then doing it

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.”

Mark Twain

“You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.”

Albert Einstein

“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”

Leonardo da Vinci

“Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it.”

Winston Churchill

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.”

Abraham Lincoln

This simple observation may well be one of the most important truths you ever read. Everybody is good at something. If you can discover what that is and do it then all sorts of opportunities will open up in front of you.

In fact the truth of the matter is that we’re all good at many things. Sometimes we never take the opportunity to sit down and do a strength and weakness test. Take a piece of paper and start to work out our strengths and weaknesses:  you will begin to step down the road that can lead to all sorts of things. One person I know was involved in a career but not of his choosing. In fact he was in this career for over 30 years. Then one day he began to pursue a career doing something that he loved. In no time at all he was enjoying a much happier life and achieving much greater success. In fact he became very successful.

If we never take the time to discover what we are really good at we don’t open up the doors to this sort of success. So what are your strengths and your weaknesses? Personal honesty is very important. Sometimes we believe that we are good at something and it takes a good friend to tell us that we are not.

Do you have a genuine friend that is not judgmental? Might you ask them their opinion of your strengths and weaknesses? Don’t be surprised at the fact that the answers will be different from what you expect. A poet once wrote about the fact that it would be good for all of us to see ourselves the way that other saw us. It would give as a reality check. But this reality check could well be a reality check on the way to success. It’s worth the pain.

If you persist down the line that you are on and you are not actually getting anywhere then isn’t it time to reconsider? Sometimes people have false ideas about what they are good at. They believe that because they have had some success in one area of life it is only necessary for them to persist. But success isn’t always linked to talent in one specific area. Take for example a small business that opens up in a community and is very successful. They may believe that they are very good at what they do and that is the reason for the success. I knew a man who did just that. He had a hardware business in a small isolated Australian town. He was very successful and he believed that he was good at what he did. The reason for his success was in fact a simple truth of location. No one else was anywhere near where he was and builders were not prepared to make the journey to the next town 50 km away. When competition opened up every customer abandoned his business. Why? The service was in fact bad at the best of times. But because they believed that they were good at what they did they had become haughty. They got caught out and customers voted with their feet. They walked!

So we have to honestly evaluate whether we really are good at what we think we are. Just because we enjoy a small amount of success in an area is not for entirely a final argument that we are good at it. Competition could well indicate that we are not so good. So take the time to ask your genuine friend what you are good at. Consider your own feelings on various activities too. For example, what do you enjoy doing very much? What can you do all day without feeling tired? Is there something that just excites you? All of these factors are worthy of consideration.

You may well discover that you have a creative mindset or that you thoroughly enjoy plodding through figures. I asked my bookkeeper recently how he liked working down ledgers. For me it’s a total pain but he said that he thoroughly enjoyed doing it. So there is a calling for everyone.

Discover what you are good at. It is a key to success.