In the world of business there are so many shortcuts, formulas, newfound ways to do everything from writing a book in 3 hours to 6 figures in 6 months.
I have always believed in the power of possibility but I feel that there are some things that we must discover on our own.
The book ‘Thick Face, Black Heart’ by Chin-Ning Chu is about action and its effectiveness.
Dozens of books are published each year that attempt to teach you how to make yourself a more effective executive, a better salesperson, and generally a happier, more dynamic individual. In these books the author prescribes a course of action that will lead to the desired result. Typically, it is a plan that has worked for the author and for some of his students. But it doesn’t necessarily work well for many readers, even though they carefully follow the author’s instructions.
These authors do not seem to be aware that there is an inward state that must be achieved in order for words and actions to be effective. The experts who write these books are good at what they do because they have had the luck to achieve that state intuitively or unconsciously. They do not seem to comprehend the problems of those who have not been so fortunate.
Author M. Scott Peck of ‘The Road Less Traveled’ fame, had this to say:
Abandon the urge to simplify everything, to look for formulas and easy answers, and to begin to think multidimensionally, to glory in the mystery and paradoxes of life, not to be dismayed by the multitude of causes and consequences that are inherent in each experience – to appreciate the fact that life is complex.
Any measure of risk taking comes with the possibility that you will fail, that failure will be involved!
To learn from failure and to continue to explore the unknown is a useful asset.
One of my favorite newsletters, Sunday Brainfood, recently shared this about Nobel Prize-winning biologist Peter Medawar (1915–1987) who was best known for work that made the first organ transplants and skin grafts possible. In 1979, he published Advice to a Young Scientist, a book brimming with both practical advice and philosophical guidance for anyone “engaged in exploratory activities.”
…one does not need to be terrifically brainy to be a good scientist…there is nothing in experimental science that calls for great feats of ratiocination or a preternatural gift for deductive reasoning. Common sense one cannot do without, and one would be the better for owning some of those old-fashioned virtues which have fallen into disrepute. I mean application, diligence, a sense of purpose, the power to concentrate, to persevere and not be cast down by adversity—by finding out after long and weary inquiry, for example, that a dearly loved hypothesis is in large measure mistaken.
…to persevere and not be cast down by adversity—by finding out after long and weary inquiry, for example, that a dearly loved hypothesis is in large measure mistaken.
You will make mistakes.
That’s it.
There is no perfection.
You need to figure things out for yourself. This is the work that no bestselling author or infamous coach can do for you.
We need to quit searching for the secret and once and for all resign ourselves to discover the answers in the only place we can find them and that’s within.
Jason Leister shares a valid truth:
There are systems and approaches that work for some. There are systems and approaches that do not work for some. So it’s not helpful to put too much stock in anyone or anything. It’s not that people are out there trying to mislead you. It’s that no one knows what will work for you.
Say that again out loud:
No one knows what will work for me.
Here’s the next thing I want you to be absolutely clear and certain about.
It’s your job to figure it out.
Go ahead…say it like you mean it: “It’s my job to figure it out.” It’s not your job to Google it to find the answers – It’s your job to figure it out. And figuring things out is a combination of thinking, doing, recording, reviewing, revising and doing again.
Leister says, “I spent years thinking that successful people could ‘deliver me’ to the promised land. But that was stupid. ‘Getting there’ was my job. I could have saved a lot of time had I just sat down and got to work figuring it out myself.”
So where do you begin?
Remember that all of the success principles work some of the time in some situations. None of them work all of the time in all situations.
Start with an educated guess and grow from there. It will take work. Create a system, get one or make one up. Work that system, study it and improve upon it. Experiment. Tweak. Get up every day and do it all over again until you get the results you’re after because doing whatever it takes is always what it’s going to take if you want to realise your dreams.
What will it mean if you were to finally end self-sabotage, reclaim your power and design a future that pulls you toward what you want? Find out here…
Your expertise is your business! 