It’s Available To You
Image by Thorsten Frenzel from Pixabay
One of the most common refrains I hear from business professionals - both young and old - is that the achievements of ‘celebrities’, in any walk of life, are the result of luck, or great timing, or some other reason that’s preordained.
In others words, their smarts and hard work were contributors but not drivers of their success. They rationalize that what drove that person’s success isn’t accessible to them, that they’re disproportionately benefitting from forces outside of their control.
And the reason, I think, they believe that, is that it gives them some comfort in what they’re doing and where they are in their minds - and more likely where they’re not. Because if outside forces are what drive inordinate levels of success, then why make the effort? Let’s accept our lot and be done with it.
The reality, though, is that almost all of these celebrities started from the same place: base level zero. No revenues, no followers, no customers, no operations. They created a vision and worked their way towards it. They dealt with the twists and turns and setbacks and difficulties and found a way through them i.e. they labored.
And while luck and all these other “cosmic” forces certainly would have played a role, they still needed to exert a commitment and foresight and dedication, to be able to spot them and take advantage of them.
I think that’s the reality. One that involves no small amount of risk, plenty of hard work and persistence and dedication. And then, all those other things that find their way to you to help you.
That’s certainly what I choose to believe.
So, when we rationalize away other’s successes and suggest that those same opportunities are not accessible to us, then we deny the reality: that every successful person started in the same place as we did, that we have the same abilities and capabilities, if we can make the commitment.
Of course, it doesn’t mean we will necessarily get the same things, but I think it will get us our thing.
