As humans, we have an innate hunger for success. Whether we want to further our cause, our race, our learning, our mental health, our financial wellbeing, our lives, our nation, secure the future of our children – whatever be our definition of success, we lust for success.
It’s ironic then that we understand so little about a thing we care so much about.
Therefore in this article, I’ll explore the top five myths about success.
“It’s ironic then that we understand so little about a thing we care so much about.” – Vinita Ramtri
MYTH NUMBER 1: YOU MUST DO IT ALONE
Many of us seem to believe that for success to be valid, we have to go it alone.
This could not be further from the truth. In fact, many successful people credit their coaches and teams for helping them succeed.
As example, Usain Bolt, who needs no introduction, was first noticed as a track prodigy in Jamaica in 2002. Yet, when he arrived in Athens for his first Olympic race in 2004, an event in his life many of us don’t know about, he was eliminated after the first 200m sprint! As Bolt himself admits, it was then that he realised that talent alone isn’t enough, and it’s one who works hardest on the talent who makes it to the top.
Next, he hired coach Glen Mills, and the rest is history.
Key Take Away: Taking help doesn’t diminish your talent, only enhances it.
“Taking help doesn’t diminish talent, only enhances it.” – Vinita Ramtri
MYTH NUMBER 2: SUCCESS IS ONE BIG EVENT
Often when we see people succeed, we’re presented with a visual that shows them winning a big event. For example, if you think of Gukesh Dommaraju, the Indian chess grandmaster, or Manu Bhaker, the Olympic winning Indian shooter, we visualise life defining moments that mark victory.
Yet for person preparing, that moment of glory is only a few seconds of a very long, often lonely journey, made of several moments of self-doubt.
As another example, while we all know Warren Buffet as the Oracle of Omaha and billionaire, what we don’t speak about is that Buffet bought his first stock when he was 11. He became a millionaire at the age of 32. That’s 21 whole years! Considering he recommends reading 500 pages a day to make informed decisions, I’ll leave for you to calculate how many pages of reading that is.
Key Take Away: The hard yards of work when no one’s watching, are the ones that count.
“The hard yards of work when no one’s watching, are the ones that count.” – Vinita Ramtri
MYTH NUMBER 3: SUCCESS AND FAILURE ARE POLAR OPPOSITES
Let’s face it, most of us are lazy thinkers. Though Daniel Kanheman explains this better than I can, what I mean here is that we want to categorise things in the simplest possible way because it helps with quick recall and implementation. While the approach has its merits, we can oversimplify success and failure as polar opposites and categorise people as those who succeeded and those that failed.
The truth is successful people fail a lot. Contrary to common belief, accepting defeat is a sign of success.
“The truth is successful people fail a lot. Contrary to common belief, accepting defeat is a sign of success.” – Vinita Ramtri
For example, while many of us are in awe of Amazon for its lofty valuations and quick and easy parcel delivery, what we seem not to notice is that before Jeff Bezos launched Amazon, he had launched an online auction site called zShops. Accepting defeat on that, he jokes about the fact that the only customers were him and his parents.
Key Take Away: Just as light is defined by darkness, success is defined by failure.
“Just as light is defined by darkness, success is defined by failure.” – Vinita Ramtri
MYTH NUMBER 4: SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE NEVER GIVE UP
In conjunction with the above, we also tend to believe that even if successful people fail, they never truly give up and sort of change course completely.
What we must bear in mind is that the definition of ‘giving up’ has many connotations. As Churchill rightly said, ‘never, never, never, never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.’
As an example here, Charles Darwin, history’s most famous biologist, who developed the Theory of Evolution, himself evolved as a biologist only after ‘giving up’ on careers such as being a doctor and then a clergyman.
Key Take Away: To read the next chapter, you must turn the page.
“To read the next chapter, you must turn the page.”
MYTH NUMBER 5: SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE GET IT RIGHT FIRST TIME
Finally, the myth of the brilliant idea from a genius mind that changes the course of history! The Eureka moments! When imagining success, we imagine brilliance as opposed to messy iteration. Somehow iteration just seems messy, as though we don’t really know what we want, and are throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks.
But that’s not true. Success is iterative and all about the marginal improvements, the tiny tweaks, the little detail.
let’s take Instagram as an example here. Most of us know that the app sold to Facebook for a billion dollars in 2012. Yet what many don’t realise is that before being rebranded to Instagram, the app was called Burbn (yes, like the whiskey) and wasn’t doing so well at all.
Key Take Away: To get it right first time, you get it wrong a few times before that. It takes constant refinement to make it right first time.
“To get it right first time, you get it wrong a few times before that. It takes constant refinement to make it right first time.” – Vinita Ramtri
