There are three characteristics that can drive success: communication efficacy, leadership efficacy, and problem‐solving efficacy. Problem solving presents an interesting aspect of success as a state of mind because the entrepreneurial spirit that guides success is rooted in overcoming difficulties or problems in your path. Simply put, it is about the mindset, not intelligence or some measure of analytical skill.
In considering the journey to success, the mindset begins with understanding potential pitfalls and then creating a plan to overcome those difficulties. You are essentially selling yourself on the idea that you can be successful, and then realizing this idea because of a successful mindset. You must be prepared to transform, uncover, clarify, and understand the problems in the path to success.
This relationship with your mindset allows you to overcome limitations you may have placed on yourself. The approach to success with a mindset that allows you to solve the problems along your journey is important not only for seeking your goals, but also for improving yourself.
1.2.2 Success in Not Accidental
The idea of success is nebulous for some people. Perhaps this is because of lack of foresight, but I believe it is because we see fate in success. We see a loaded determinism that robs us of agency. Those who achieve success have developed a long‐term plan paired with impressive work habits that push them toward success. They do not trip into it, nor do they come upon it by happenstance.
Taking care in your preparation for success, the roadmap on which you depend to reach your goals, is important because attention to detail is the difference between success and failure. Holding yourself to a level of excellence that befits your goals ensures that success will not merely happen upon your path; you will have driven yourself toward it.
1.2.3 Success Is Simple
Simple, not easy – that is the stuff of success. You need to attend to what you wish to accomplish, and then do it correctly at every step. There is no complexity; it is a straight path when walked accurately.
Yet it remains complicated. Why?
I believe it is focus that determines how simply we perceive success. If you do not understand what you are trying to achieve, it should come as no surprise when the process feels complicated. Vagueness and uncertainty have no place in the pursuit of success. Clarity and conviction are imperative for simplifying the path. Understanding and explicitly stating what you need allows you to direct your energy toward your goal. You don't want to follow any old road; you want to take the road that leads to your destination.
1.2.4 Success Is an Ever‐Changing State
Change is the only true constant. No matter how hard you try, things change. If you are not evolving, you are letting the world pass you by. More importantly, if your goals and plans for success and the very definition of your success are not changing, you put yourself in danger of failing.
Innovation, growth, reinvention: these are the tools necessary for overcoming change in pursuit of personal success. You need only look at other people who continue to pursue their dreams using the same methods as everyone else and watch them become disappointed by the outcome.
Disruption and transformation are not new ideas, and are important in the change that ultimately happens along the path to success. A time comes in the pursuit of success when the need to change your paradigm becomes clear. Learn to transform yourself in the process. Consider the following ideas when change presents itself:
1 Will this help me grow?
2 Have I changed the metrics to reflect the evolution of my success?
3 Am I willing to change how I describe my success?
4 Do I understand the landscape of the changes in my path?
5 Do I have long‐term and short‐term strategies?
1.2.5 Success Is Measurable
In order to measure success, you must define it. For this purpose, you must create long‐ and short‐terms goals that best reflect the steps that lead to your definition. There is no catchall for how to measure success; its subjectivity lends itself to multiple definitions and metrics.
The important thing is to know what your definition is − and then measure it accordingly.
This tricky question needs to be addressed first: how do you define success? From there, you move to understanding and setting the metrics that best reflect how to measure it. Choose a measurement that inspires your pursuit of success, something that matches your personal values or business values. Once you have a scale, you need to track your measurements with a dashboard or chart that keeps the information simple and understandable.
1.2.6 Success Makes You a Better Person
Success, however it is defined, changes your life. And in this change, you come to see the importance of giving back. Giving back enriches not only the lives of others but also the successful individual. As such, societal contribution is a metric by which you should define how success has affected you. Do you give back to your community? To those less fortunate?
Having reached a point in life where you can not only take care of yourself but also provide for others, a successful person is positioned to realize the concept of self‐actualization, to become a complete being who is satisfied on every level. This level of awareness makes you more receptive to the plight of others and, hopefully, more giving of your excess time and resources.
Success breeds kindness in those who recognize the struggle.
Being true to yourself is important for success, but also for how you see others. If you have taken control of your life, you begin to see the importance of mentoring others to do the same. You need to be fueled by something greater than yourself to be successful, but it also means asking yourself meaningful questions. Who are you? What do you care about? How can you help?
1.2.7 Happiness and Success Are Mutually Inclusive
Happiness and success are interdependent; it is difficult to achieve real success without happiness. Success in life is subjective, but is no doubt predicated on the pursuit of your dreams – of what makes you happy. If the pursuit or achievement of success does not come with happiness, with a balance of what matters, then can we truly call it success?
If you must sacrifice happiness for success, then what is success?
Quality of life can be measured by various metrics, but chief among them is happiness as an indicator. If you work long hours to acquire wealth, and had previously defined that as success, then does that simple math equate to success? What if you cannot pursue anything other than the acquisition of wealth at the expense of sharing and experiencing the joy in life? How do we reconcile the interdependence of happiness and success?
Identification of success and being able to measure it, as described in a previous section, helps us to understand whether we have been successful if we have traded one for the other.
1.2.8 Success and Fame Are Independent
Fame and success are often conflated because they look so similar. The wealth, prestige and access that comes with fame looks very much like what most people would define as success. However, fame is dependent on success in a particular domain. Were you a famous physicist, then you would be well known in your field and would have achieved a level of fame in direct proportion to your success in that field.
The trickiness of this independence arises when we do not fully understand what is we are pursuing. If we do not define success appropriately, we may see other's success and lose the value of our own success; we may confuse extrinsic value with intrinsic value.
1.2.9