Every person you meet will have a slightly different definition of what success is to them. Whether the goal is centred around finance, health, relationships, or their career, the point of “Success” is subjective.
No matter what it looks like.. we all desire to achieve it in one way or another. We desire to achieve, to excel, to gain; this is just a part of human nature.
When we decide to reach for success or set ourselves a new goal, it’s obvious that at the point we are at, we have less understanding, knowledge or skills than someone who has already reached that goal.
So it can be said that when we set a goal, we not only set a challenge to achieve something specific, we set ourselves a challenge to become the person who is able to achieve that thing. We do this through gaining new skills, practice and determination.
What Every Successful Person Knows But You Won’t Hear Them Say
Often when we are at the starting point of attempting to achieve something new, a goal can feel overwhelming. We can feel as though the goal itself is HUGE or that perhaps we aren’t capable of achieving it at all.
But the thing about success is that it’s a process.
In Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers, he stated that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become a master of something.
This is a theory of course, which will vary from person to person but the point is clear. There is no such thing as overnight success. It takes years to become successful.
People generally don’t talk about this part of becoming successful. Maybe because most of us don’t want to hear the reality. In a world of instant gratification, perhaps the idea of long term hard work is too difficult to swallow.
The truth is, not only does it take years to become successful at something, but at the beginning of your journey, you’re probably going to suck at it.
Yep. There is likely going to be a bunch of time, be it days, weeks, months or years of you learning to be great at something that you simply won’t be any good.
This is partly why many people never try new things. The idea of not being immediately brilliant at something is too much for their ego to bear.
It’s kind of sad to think about how many people never try anything new or set themselves a goal because they feel like they need to be good straight away.
You Don’t!
In fact, you can’t! It’s completely necessary to not be good at some stuff. How will you grow and evolve and get better at anything if you don’t suck a little bit to start with?
A great quote on this concept comes from American public radio personality and the host and producer of the radio and television show This American Life, Ira Glass..
Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, and I really wish somebody had told this to me.
All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But it’s like there is this gap. For the first couple years that you’re making stuff, what you’re making isn’t so good. It’s not that great. It’s trying to be good, it has ambition to be good, but it’s not that good.
But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is good enough that you can tell that what you’re making is kind of a disappointment to you. A lot of people never get past that phase. They quit.
Everybody I know who does interesting, creative work they went through years where they had really good taste and they could tell that what they were making wasn’t as good as they wanted it to be. They knew it fell short. Everybody goes through that.
And if you are just starting out or if you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Do a huge volume of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week or every month you know you’re going to finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you’re going to catch up and close that gap. And the work you’re making will be as good as your ambitions.
I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It takes awhile. It’s gonna take you a while. It’s normal to take a while. You just have to fight your way through that.
—Ira Glass
All successful people know and understand this concept.
They know that greatness does not happen overnight. They embrace their growing edges and choose to allow themselves the space to learn.
If you are thinking of trying something new in your life, embrace the space between where you are and where you want to be.
It’s in this space that you get to learn about who you are. You gain new skills and knowledge that can lead to amazing destinations and success beyond your wildest dreams.