What is really required for success?

There are many misconceptions on success. You hear a lot of stories. You hold a lot of false beliefs in your head. You are at the right place now. Read further and change your beliefs.

Tough Love vs pampering love

Pampering love feels safe and cosy. All of us crave for it. Everyone believes that they need some one who can support them through the thick and thin. But is that all required to be successful? A successful person will not only have a supporter but also a mentor who gives tough love. It is tough love which pushes you out of your comfort zone. Pampering love tells you that it is okay to fail and you need not feel bad about it. But tough love challenges you to retry and discover your true self.

With Mentor vs Without Mentor:

A lot of people complain that they are not able to succeed because they don’t have a mentor. They want a mentor to give them the manual to success. If you are one of them, it is better to open your eyes today than later. There is no step by step instructions to success. The world out there is wild. Go and explore it. You definitely need a mentor to avoid the most obvious mistakes. Books and courses can provide you that guidance. Don’t wait till you find a person as your mentor. You can make books and courses your mentor and start working. Mentor will find a way to you. 

"And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." - Paulo Coelho.

Passion vs Strengths

There are two sets of people. The first set thinks that they are useless. They have neither passion nor any strengths. If you belong to this category, change your mindset immediately. Don’t consider yourself as useless. There will be something about you which is unique. Do you love eating? You can become a food taster. Do you watch TV a lot? You can earn money by writing reviews of the TV programs you watch. Just find that damn thing which you are good at.

Now the second set of people has both passion and strengths. They waste a lot of time in deciding between passion and strength. If you are in this category, stick to one thing. It does not matter what you are doing. Because passion is anyway going to fade when obstacles come into the picture. If you believe in your strengths, develop passion in it. Make it interesting. The successful ones are those who persevere through hardships. Not the ones who are still trying to choose between passion and strengths.

Hard work vs Smart work:

People don’t work on their dreams because they are busy thinking how to be smart. You don’t become smart by thinking. You become smart by doing and failing. All looks fine in the imaginary plan. You will come across the loopholes only when you execute the plan. Start quick, fail quicker.

Hard work does not mean donkey work. You have to put in deliberate practice. You need to be a step ahead than what you have done the previous day. Next time don’t call the same old work you have doing for the entire year as hard work.

Full-time vs Part-time:                                 

“I work 9 to 5. I need to quit my job to be successful.”

Don’t ever till this to yourself. It is just an excuse for not working. Everyone has the same 24 hours in their time account every day. Your day time job gives you the financial security. The part-time work helps you get closer to your dreams. You move closer to your dream by only sweating for a little more time after work each day. You can quit your full-time job once your part -time work gives you enough income. You can also scale the part time job to a full time job.

Start today vs Start when you are ready

You don’t have to become super smart or millionaire to start working on your dreams. You can start from wherever you are now. All you need to do is take some action everyday. You will eventually become the person you always dreamt of becoming.

Small vs Big

You want to write a book in a month. Probably if you work hard, you will accomplish it. But writing a book without even writing an article before, tells how novice your book is going to be. And the fatigue which the month-long exercise gives you, will make you hate writing. You will subconsciously avoid it. So start small. Ocean was formed through drops only. So will be your book.

Journey vs Destination

People want immediate results. Ask people who succeeded, how it felt to be successful. They tell you that it was the journey which they enjoyed the most. Stop waiting for the destination and enjoy the journey today.

Old ideas vs New ideas

People don’t work on their dreams because they wait for a new idea. If you have a new idea, which is going to transform the world, congratulations! You are welcome here. But if you don’t have a new idea, you can always work on how to make the existing idea better. It is no less compared to the new idea.

Ordinary vs Perfection

Perfection is important but it is not the only thing. You can chase perfection. But first get the basics right. Then work on improving it. Don’t stop your work under the name of perfection.

Risk vs Moving out of comfort zone

Taking a big step which involves huge investment without formulating the plan is a risk. Taking a small step with the big picture in mind is moving out of comfort zone.

Now that all your misconceptions have washed away, start a new journey with new beliefs.

Happy walking on the success path!