anxvariety. Your going to get an honest and open answer because your question struck a nerve. Somebody asked me that this past week and I was taken aback that they even would think I was successful, let alone self made. I was like, “why are you asking me?”
That is at once a difficult question and an easy question to answer.
The easy answer is unremarkable. Hard work. Nothing can replace hard work or its drivers: perserverance, determination, and motivation. In fact, I have always said with resolve that perseverance, determination, and motivation are more valuable than genius, talent, and skill.
I have co-founded a handful of companies. Half were successful, half were complete flops. All took hard work. I don’t have any hidden secrets, no unusual talents, no gifts or remarkable skills. I only have my resolve. I have a ton of undergraduate and graduate education and attended great institutions, but know folks more educated and far more “successful” than I. In college, fellow honors students often mistook me for being smart or gifted. Little did they know that I had to work and study twice as hard as they, just to be able to look them in the eye. I have a dream job (my version of one) that I had to work increadibly hard to get, succeed at, and continue to work hard to keep in terms of meeting the performance standard of expectation. So my answer is nothing remarkable. Nothing can take the place of old fashion hard work. There are no shortcuts in my book.
The difficult answer is not worth attempting. Success is measured in many different ways. I don’t say I am successful to the external world, though sometimes it says so to me. I am successful to myself. I have met my goals in life. But my success may be another’s failure. Everything is relative. We have spoken of wealth on this board before and debated its meaning. A similiar discussion could develop with success. If I loose my job tomorrow, will I still feel successful? My wife? We write our own success stories. The outside world does not determine whether we are successful, we do. Self made means making yourself who you want to be. Success is a state of mind, not a state of affairs.
I never rest on my laurels, never get too confident in my state of affairs. Life could turn in a moment. Nothing is guaranteed or given. Paranoia can cripple, but a little dose in the background keeps one motivated to keep moving and pushing to improve, however that improvement may be measured.
Relativity is an amazing equalizer. I have friends so much wealthier, smarter, more interesting, successful (by my measures) than I, that I never loose my drive to constantly improve and push myself. If I have any “secret” it is that I always strive to be the dumbest person in the room or slowest in my running crew. By doing that I am always pushing myself to improve, because it becomes obvious there is much room for improvement.
People at the top can get complacent, lazy, and overconfident and they stop improving. It really is hard to stay on top. I never want to reach the top, the climb is too much fun. Climbing the moutain makes you feel alive. Sitting on the summit just makes you realize you might fall off, get pushed off, or feel anxious to get off so you can start another ascent.
Please excuse my early morning motivational-speaker-babble. I said a lot without saying much at all. I don’t mean to imply that I have any wisdom on life, success, or whatever and I stole the concept of hard work from folks who have worked much harder than I. Standing on the shoulders of giants and all that. If you ever met me, you would be unimpressed. That is how I like it. I strive to underwealm.
(so much for my concise post promise above. I often feel I don’t have much to say and then I say a lot)
