Success in digital marketing…direct marketing…and everywhere else
I’ve learned a few new things this year.
I paid more attention to how to be successful. I read books, listened to podcasts, and took a closer look at what made my clients & candidates successful. A few common threads emerged. One that sticks with me is, “It’s simple, but it’s not easy”.
It seems that we humans are programmed to follow the path of least resistance. It’s easy to go on auto-pilot, and not truly stretch, push, and focus on results. We set goals, then make excuses as to why we cannot reach them. Successful people are not looking for reasons why their goals cannot be achieved. They are finding a way to achieve them, despite the obstacles in their path.
One of my sources of inspiration this year has been listing to Tim Ferriss’ podcast. In case you are not familiar with Ferriss, he is an American author, entrepreneur, angel investor, and public speaker. He has written a number of self-help books, and puts out a weekly podcast. On this week’s podcast, I heard a terrific parable on truly desiring success (or wisdom, in the case of this tale). It goes as follows:
A young man visits Socrates in search of wisdom. To the young man’s surprise, Socrates takes him out to a lake and dunks his head under water. As the man’s struggle to come up for air, Socrates holds him under. Later, after recovering, the young man asks Socrates why he nearly drowned him.
Socrates replies, “What is it you most wanted when you were under water?”
“Air,” the young man replies.
Socrates responds, “When your desire for wisdom is as great as your desire to breathe, you will find wisdom.”
How badly do you want success?
Something else I had not given much thought to was the concept of “Pay now, or pay later”. We always think that when it comes to hard work, the alternative is to “take it easy”. Or that when it comes to dieting, we can either enjoy the cake, or “deprive ourselves”. I’ve learned to frame both differently…If we do indeed choose not to work hard, we may have chosen to take it easy, but we have also chosen not to shine our brightest. When we choose to eat the cake, we are choosing not to fit into our jeans. Truly recognizing that taking the “easy” way out doesn’t necessarily make us happier, nor lead us to our goal of success, is something people don’t think about enough.
One last observation: Successful people are willing to take risks. I don’t know why we are so afraid to fail! The consequences aren’t usually all that dire. But people are risk-averse, and according to Ferriss, “People will choose unhappiness over uncertainty. A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.” I had never thought of that before!
I still have a lot to learn. But I have never made more placements than I did this year. Without a doubt, I believe that studying success leads to greater success.
Wishing you greater success in 2016!
In latest