The 12 Keys to Success

key-to-success

What drives you to be successful? Are you motivated by the meaning of work or the perk? After reading Gerhard Gschwandtner’s article on the twelve keys to success in Selling Power, I learned new keys that I have never considered. Unfortunately, Gschwandtner’s editorial isn’t available online. I’ve outline his success principles with my additional commentary:

1. Passion

“Successful people pursue their dreams with passion, not because they get paid. Money is not the key driver, nor the key motivator. Passion comes from pursuing meaning, not money.”

Early in our career, it’s easy to become seduced by money. I once quit a job to pursue a higher salary, but ended up hating it. I quit, but then ended up unemployed for almost a year and a half. Of course, this was very early in my career, prior my master’s program. I just shake my head when I look back at that time. Today, I’ll work my tail off for no money at all, if I’m passionate about it.

2. Work

“Successful people know that nothing worthwhile comes easy. Winners tell us, ‘Do what you love or learn to love what you do.’ It is important to have fun, so don’t be a workaholic, be a ‘workafrolic’ instead.” Work is hard, but it should also be fun. If you are in a job that’s fun, it’s easy to forget this fact, as we complain about how we work 12+ hours a day, commuting 12-14 hours per week.

3. Curiosity

“Successful people are not curious just about their field, they are curious about EVERYTHING. They continually probe people, they ask hundreds of questions, and they always try to figure out how things work.” When I’m curious about a new thing in work, I buy every business book I can get my hands on. I also buy books or do research on something that I’m not curious about, but that’s important to get done. I’ve figure out how to get motivated. What buttons do you push to turn on your curiosity or motivation?

4. The ability to push ourselves mentally and physically

“Pushing through the wall of self-doubt. Go beyond your fears. Push yourself to the edge of your abilities.” You can always push a little harder, a little farther. You’ll be surprised what you end up doing, when you enjoy working. There are times, when I’m into my work that I don’t want to take breaks, preferring to push on, until my project is done.

5. Turning failure into a learning laboratory

“Edison failed thousands of times before he found a filament that would glow in a vacuum tube, which lead to his invention of the light bulb.” Sometimes it feels like my failures were life altering. Over time, I learned to reframe my failures by turning them into a learning opportunities. Failures allow me to improve or adapt my tools in my toolkit or find a better job.

6. The ability to focus

“Focus requires concentration and persistence. Focus leads to clarity about goals, directions, and decisions.” For some of us, focus comes after defeating procrastination; it’s the catalyst for creativity.

7. The willingness to serve

“We can’t become successful by serving ourselves. We have to serve and deliver value to others.” My former CEO reminded me that, at times, I was too deferential, seeing my role, as one to make him look good. I over-functioned in the opposite direction, rather than being too self-serving.

8. Innovation

“Successful people know that having innovative ideas is not enough; speed of innovation hold the key to winning.” When successful people are motivated, their innovative ideas are developed and tweaked, and quickly executed. Innovative people are on fire, when it comes to taking theirs, and running with it. One of my friends is good at the innovation process, that he’ll come up with the idea for a website, find the right template, tweak the template, launch the site, within a 24 hour time period.

9. Conquering adversity and disappointment

“Successful people don’t view failure as final, nor do they mistake success for a final destination. They focus on the journey. This simple change in philosophy helps them deal with the inevitable criticism, rejection, antagonism, and pressure.” Adversity and disappointment grooms us by making us stronger. Reframe “failures” as learning opportunities or else the journey will seem futile.

10. Solving problems early and completely

“Successful people know that it is more profitable when problems are acknowledged early, understood quickly, and resolved completely.” Realize or admit mistakes early, don’t hide them. Mistakes only grow exponentially (at least it seems like they do), when we go into denial or avoidance about our mistakes. Identify early so you can solve early, giving you time to complete it or fix it sooner versus later.

11. Resourcefulness

“Successful people don’t ask for more resources to turn their dream into reality. They are more resourceful about closing the gap between dreaming and doing. While anybody can dream of success, few are willing to reach deep inside to find the resources and do what needs to be done to reach success.” You’ll be amazed how resourceful you can be when you really want something, but can’t secure the resources needed. Tap into that resourcefulness.

12. Fulfillment

“We can give people all the tools they need and all the love they want, but we cannot give them fulfillment. Fulfillment is an art, not a science. It is the art of fusing our energies and our achievements with our highest aspirations.” To add to his point, I think of fulfillment as passion+energies+little wins mixed with some failures+achievements+highest aspirations+enjoyment of the journey=fulfillment.

Gschwandtner’s keys to success are for knowledge workers, middle managers, C-levels, and entrepreneurs alike. When it comes right down to it, his list speaks to those of us, who want passion in our work and practice excellence in our work, as we enjoy the journey of becoming successful.

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