A Secret to Success?
A question I think about every so often is what makes a successful person successful? I’ve thought it might be an education, a good job, intellectual superiority, conviction, or maybe all of the above. These reasonably thought explanations may be factors, but in my humble opinion, it’s not the real reason. My first clue to what the real reason was back in 8th grade, playing ice hockey. My coach, Coach Burack, made us skate for seemingly forever, and we would skate hard, “over-speed”, as he would call it. This especially seemed pointless for to goalies on the team, but his message was clear, “You do everything in life at 110%”. Another clue of mine was when I found out that 85% of Fortune 500 companies are awake before 6am. Lastly, as someone who works-out on a regular basis, the biggest people at the gym, how did they get so big? There’s something all these people have in common.
When I was watching a Pittsburgh Penguins game last year the announcers were talking about Sidney Crosby (NHL All-Star). As they were talking about him they didn’t mention his super athletic ability, his extreme intelligence for the game, or any of the things you might thing would make him a cut above the rest. What did they mention? “He works harder than any other player you’ve seen”. Interesting. Works harder than any other player… and he’s unanimously agreed upon, the best player in the NHL. Coincidence? Let’s take a look at another example.
I just mentioned that the average CEO wakes up before 6 am. Typically a CEO will wake up, read the paper (read: The Wall Street Journal), answer some emails perhaps, and get to the office by 8 am. This means that they’ve actually done work, before they’ve gone to work. And, they’re arriving at work 1-2 hours before everyone else. What about the top executives that you see in the movies playing golf while at “work”? Or “doing business” at the golf course, seemingly every day? Doesn’t exist. You may catch them going for an early morning walk before work, however.
At any gym in America, I can guarantee you that there will be at least one person bigger than you. It is often thought that these bigger people seemingly somehow have better genetics, maybe a better bone structure, maybe better form… and some of that could be true. But you see these bigger people at the gym time and time again – and that’s exactly it. Just like the CEO, and Sidney Crosby, they’re putting in the most work; the longest hours. People that are bigger than me I ALWAYS see them at the gym. It hardly matters what time of the day I’m at the gym – they’re always there. Coincidence? Doubt it.
The moral of this blog post is that to achieve success, work the hardest. It doesn’t matter what what industry your in, what your career is. “You do everything in life at 110%”. I’m not saying that if I put in 40 hours a week playing hockey I could become as good as Sidney Crosby. He has a gift. But, if I put in 40 hours a week, do you think my ice hockey career would’ve ended at high school? As my personal finance professor once said, “I may not be the smartest, but I’ll outwork you.”. There’s too many examples of people achieving success in their industry not by a higher than average IQ, not because they have a better education, or they have insight into the industry, but because they purely just work hard.
