Ever since I’ve met Viktor Frankl as a student (too long ago as to mention the years) I keep on asking clients to define “success”. Most reply either in general terms, like “I want to happy”, or start listing the classical examples like job, position, recognition, money, leaving something great behind, fame, etc.
Few ever become a “success story” though. But since the marketing machinery of our culture is very well functioning telling us what we should aim for in our lifes, and how we should live, most still go along with the rat-race concept.
Life-benchmarking, comparing ourselves with the stars, is still the prevailing force in our culture. To be mediocre, below average, compared to “friends”, peers and neighbours, means to have failed.
Really?
I came across this wonderful article by James Altucher about “aiming for grandiosity is the fastest route to failure”; but have a look and judge yourself:
THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE MEDIOCRE PEOPLE
I’m pretty mediocre. I’m ashamed to admit it. I’m not even being sarcastic or self-deprecating. I’ve never done anything that stands out. No “Whoa! This guy made it into outer space!” or, “This guy has a best selling novel!” or, “If only Google had thought of this!” I’ve had some successes and some failures but never reached any of the goals I had initially set. Always slipped off along the way, off the yellow brick road, into the wilderness.
I’ve started a bunch of companies. Sold some. Failed at most. I’ve invested in a bunch of startups. Sold some. Failed at some, and the jury is still sequestered on a few others. I’ve written some books, most of which I no longer like. I can tell you overall, though, everything I have done has been distinguished by its mediocrity, its lack of a grand vision, and any success I’ve had can be put just as much in the luck basket as the effort basket.
That said, all people should be so lucky. We can’t all be grand visionaries. We can’t all be Picassos. We want to make our business, make our art, sell it, make some money, raise a family, and try to be happy. My feeling, based on my own experience, is that aiming for grandiosity is the fastest route to failure. For every Mark Zuckerberg, there are 1000 Jack Zuckermans. Who is Jack Zuckerman? I have no idea. That’s my point. If you’re Jack Zuckerman and you’re reading this, I apologize. You aimed for the stars and missed. Your reentry into the atmosphere involved a broken heat shield, and you burned to a crisp by the time you hit the ocean. Now we have no idea who you are.
If you want to get rich, sell your company, have time for your hobbies, raise a halfway decent family (with mediocre children), and enjoy the sunset with your wife on occasion.
Here are some of my highly effective recommendations.
Procrastinate. In between the time I wrote the last sentence and the time I wrote this one, I played (and lost) a game of chess. My king and my queen got forked by a knight. But hey, that happens. Fork me once, shame on me.
Procrastination is your body telling you you need to back off a bit and think more about what you’re doing. When you procrastinate as an entrepreneur, it could mean that you need a bit more time to think about what you’re pitching a client. It could also mean you’re doing work that is not your forte and that you’d be better off delegating. I find that many entrepreneurs are trying to do everything when it would be cheaper and more time-efficient to delegate, even if there are monetary costs associated with that. In my first business, it was like a lightbulb went off in my head the first time I delegated a programming job to someone other than me. At that time, I went out on a date. Which was infinitely better than sweating all night on some stupid programming bug (thank you, Chet, for solving that issue).
Try to figure out why you’re procrastinating. …continue reading
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What a breath of fresh air.
I have just completed a survey on the qualities of leadership, and the emphasis that is put on refelction – both from the leader and through encouraging others to undertake it – is quite insightful.
Yes, I am procrastinating a bit. This has to be right.
Only I will know when it is.