Looking for true success in the workplace? In the continuing series relating the important concepts laid out in the book, Career Success without a Real Job by Ernie Zelinski, I would like to highlight the point the author makes at the beginning of chapter three.
The title of the chapter is thought-provoking enough by itself: “Extraordinary Success Is Achieved By Ordinary Individuals.”
Most everyone considers him/herself ordinary. Normal people without psychotic disorders generally don’t go around thinking, “I am magnificent and great and can leap tall buildings in a single bound.”
So, if you’ve been thinking that you could never succeed with what you really want to do because you’re such a hum-drum ordinary person, take heart! You qualify to become one of the greatest success stories every!
The problem is, most people don’t take hold of that mindset. They think, “I can go thus far, and no farther,” seriously limiting their potentials. Everyone has an inborn ability to do much more than they can see at the present moment, but most people never get past that nearsighted vision.
Here are the five reasons Zelinski gives that you should never limit or underestimate yourself.
1. North America is full of smart and talented people who have yet to experience success.
Why? Because they limit themselves. I”m talking people with IQs of between 130 and 170 who are doing nothing with their lives, compared to the talent and abilities they have.
2. Remarkable achievement happens when you take action where others don’t.
Act on that idea. Write that novel. Set up that business appointment. Simply by taking the first step toward a goal that burns in you puts you way ahead of 95% of everyone else around you.
3. Perseverance is the greatest determiner of success.
Not how good your childhood was. Not how much money you have now. Not your current job, how supportive your spouse is, or whether you’ve ever won a radio contest.
If you can persevere through every obstacle and every season of life in order to achieve the loftiest goal, you have a great chance of succeeding.
4. Excuses will keep you in a rut.
“Somebody else is already doing it.” “I don’t have enough money to get it started.” “My mother said I was crazy.”
“I’m too old.” “I’m too young.” “My dad will disown me because he already paid $100,000 for my law education.”
“I’m disabled.” “Nobody will buy it.”
Keep on repeating such phrases, and your life is sure to be one long stretch of mediocrity and boredom.
5. To succeed on your own, you need to be willing to make some trade-offs.
- You trade off an attractive health insurance package for better health because you suffer considerably less stress.
- You trade off a guaranteed paycheck for guaranteed greater sense of purpose and fulfillment.
- You trade off being told what to do for freedom of creativity.
- You trade off a long commute for working in your home office.
- You trade off the threat of lay-offs for the unlimited potential to increase your income.
- You trade off working set hours for a much more flexible schedule.
Want to achieve extraordinary success? Then stop limiting yourself.
