Forget about it. If you’re here to unearth the secrets, the magic steps to success, close this window. You won’t find them here.
There are no magic steps, and there aren’t any secrets.
But that’s why you’re here. Looking for the magic. Looking for why you haven’t found success yet.
You fear never making it. You fear continued mediocrity. You fear never getting over the stuck feeling. You fear that at the end of your life, you’ll meet the person you could have become, but didn’t.
I feel you, because that’s my list.
My goal here is to save you some time and effort, and help bring to light what you already know to be true. Hopefully, then you can quit beating yourself up, stop procrastinating, get past being an amateur, and start turning pro.
The Bullshit and the True
A google search on “steps to success” delivers almost 500M results. A google search on “secrets to success” delivers over 387M results.
All of this advice is equally bullshit and powerfully correct. It’s a boiling sea of conflicting messages…all of it contextual.
I think I’ve read them all. Yet here I sit. I’m writing this not as my full time gig, but as something I fit into the cracks of the day consumed by my day job.
The conclusion: I don’t need more information.
Neither do you need more information about how to be successful. You didn’t miss the “steps to success” day in 11th grade. Nobody was awarded the secrets to success when they were meditating in India with a guru. I’ve never taken Ayahuasca, but I’d be willing to bet that won’t give them to you either.
The Steps to Success
The simple fact is that there’s no magic, and no set of secrets, but there is a common theme that emerges…a framework that you can apply.
Here’s how I see it. Simple, but not easy.
Intention
Intention matters.
What is it you’d like to do? What does success even mean?
Without intention, outcomes are random.
Without good intentions, outcomes are tainted.
If the QB makes the wrong read, but throws the touchdown pass anyway, what happens the next 5 or 10 times?
Intention is you grabbing control of your mindset and taking ownership. The genesis of all change is mindset.
Note that intention doesn’t mean well-ruminated 5-year plan. It just means you are now headed in a direction.
They say, “Good intentions pave the way to hell.” They’re wrong.
Intention is where you summon the muse.
Participation
Show up…consistently.
Start doing the thing, and then keep doing it. Even when you don’t feel like it.
As Steven Pressfield would say: the amateur shows up when he feels like it, the pro shows up everyday.
Start turning pro.
Sit down and write. Grab your running shoes and run, even if its raining. Build the web page. Sit in the pew each Sunday. Record your online course. Work on the business plan.
You may dream about the award around your neck, but you won’t feel its cool metal edges on the skin of your chest unless you put your miles in.
When you participate, the muse takes notice of your seriousness.
Mastery
Now go get good.
To get good, you will have to master the required skillset.
The tortoise only beats the hare because the hare is an amateur. He shows up for the race, but hasn’t mastered how to run the race. The tortoise masters the running of the race.
If the hare was a master, there’s no contest, and no story.
When you master the skill set, the muse jumps down in the trench alongside you and grabs her bazooka.
What is Mastery?
How good do you need to be? How do you become a master?
Mastery Starts with a Beginner Mindset
The master started by setting his ego aside and becoming a beginner.
The beginner is humble and recognizes he will need help. The beginner steps out of his comfort zone. He sets aside what he thinks he knows, and is willing to start fresh.
Beginners gather information. They learn from other masters. They may go to school, read books, listen to podcasts, and take courses. They definitely invest.
But information only takes you so far. Information cannot make you a master.
Read that again: Information cannot make you a master.
The amateur stops at beginner. He stops at gathering the information.
The amateur can make good dinner conversation, but he hasn’t made a contribution that matters. That’s where the line is drawn, because across the line of contribution lies the emotional danger.
Masters Are Producers
The master turns from consumer to producer.
He does stuff, and he continues to participate. He takes the information, finds his voice in it, and starts producing. The master makes the phone calls.
The master gets comfortable being uncomfortable. He tries the things that might not work.
Mastery requires going through the hard. There are no shortcuts, or ways around, or tunnels underneath. There is only through.
The guru on the mountain may be a master, but not because he’s got a robe and a label. He’s a master because he’s dug into it, struggled with his own beliefs, argued with his teachers and peers, written about it, lived it, and is willing to teach it to you. The guru produces.
The social media influencer may be a master, but not because she’s beautiful and has a team of people around her. She’s a master because she’s built a network, mastered her distribution channel, mastered her content, adjusts the content accordingly, and exposes herself to the emotional danger from the public. The influencer produces.
Masters Remain Flexible and Current
The master is willing to question his own beliefs and his own methods. This may shake him to the core.
Beliefs are beginning assertions, and methods are test procedures. Sometimes they are wrong. As he produces, his output changes.
The master also knows that skill sets and philosophies are fluid and ever-changing, so he keeps up. He doesn’t keep up so that he knows the lingo and can talk a good game. He keeps up to discern progress from bullshit.
He employs progress, he eschews bullshit.
Masters Acknowledge Others and Luck/God/Universe
The master knows there is something bigger than himself into which he is connected. The master is one part of the whole.
Sometimes things fall into place for him, and he acknowledges this. He may consider it God, or the Universe, or fate, or the muse, or even incoherent luck, but he knows that the whole has contributed. He does not drink his own bathwater.
He also knows that he is not self-made and there is no such thing. The very concept of self-made is oxymoronic.
The master asks for review, takes criticism, and adjusts. Not for external validation, but for growth.
He gives credit. He is thankful for those before him and with him and who come after him. The master makes gratitude part of his daily practice.
Mastery is a Skill
Mastery is, in itself, a skill of the pro. It takes time and effort.
How much time? That depends on context.
Maybe 1 week, maybe 20 years.
How good does he have to get? That depends on context.
The first blog article ever published didn’t require masterful content, perfect grammar, and razor sharp SEO because it was a new invention…a novel idea…a unique experience at that time. With 500M+ blogs today, you better have something good to say, say it well, and understand how to build an audience.
In Summary
There is no magic set of steps to success, but there is a common framework that you can apply. You must find your voice, your context, and fill in your details. Nobody can do that for you.
Achieving your success takes all 3 steps.
Start with intention and participation. Then go get good. Master the required skillset.
Is it all worth it?
Ask yourself this: Will someone else be worse off if you aren’t successful?
