The Reality of success

A lot of people have this idea that success is reserved for those with talent or those who grew up in the right family. Some believe success mostly comes down to luck and they believe this to the point where they despise anyone who is successful as if other people’s success somehow makes them less worthy.

I’m not going to say luck, talent, and circumstances don’t come into play because they do. Some people are born into the right family while others are born with genetic advantages. We’re not all dealt the same hand; we don’t all start out in life completely even and that’s just the reality of how life is.

However, realize that MOST people who succeed at doing something in life got there by chipping away at their goal each and every day. It is said that in order to get really good at something, one has to put in at least 10,000 hours worth of study and practice. That is a LOT of dedication and that’s only to become really good. To become great at certain things, it’ll require even more time, time that most people won’t put in.

This is a big reason why many successful people advise to do something you love. If you don’t enjoy what you do, the practice and the time needed to become really good is going to feel like torture and will likely make you quit well before you ever become good at it.

When you see someone displaying some great skill or someone who has achieved great success, just know that they put in a huge chunk of their life to get to that level which means sacrifices were made. It’s easy to see people like that and think they got lucky or they were born with some rare talent but thinking that way does you no good and there’s a huge chance that you’re wrong anyway.

Whatever your craft is, be it art, music, business, or anything else, if you want to become great at doing what you do, nothing beats day in and day out, consistent work, almost to the point of obsession, stretched out over a long period of time. If you’re not willing to put in the time and work, don’t expect to reap any rewards. Consistent, hard work won’t guarantee you the level of success you may want but it will guarantee that you will become really good at whatever it is you put all that work into.