What are the keys to success? How do we explain the fact that two equally talented people sometimes produce dramatically different results? Why is that? Some people believe success is a matter of luck. Others believe it is the result of talent or education, or "being in the right place at the right time." Some of us think it has to do with "who you know," or (let's be honest) that luck maybe does play a part.Well. I don't think "luck" has anything to do with it, except in the sense that some people have a knack for doing the right things, in the right way, at the right time, and attracting the things they want in life. If that's "luck", I want all I can get! And that kind of luck is not magical or supernatural. I think it's more accurate to describe success as a habit, as a set of behaviors and attitudes that are repeated every day until they become automatic.A few years ago, I read that the top sales people in a large insurance company earned 54 times more than the "average" salesperson made in commissions. Think of that--some people earned 54 times more than their colleagues who were selling the same products for the same company, with the same training. How could that be?
Were the top people 54 times smarter or 54 times more talented? Would you argue they were 54 times luckier? Of course not! It turns out, the differences in income were almost entirely the result of "small differences that made all the difference."Now, the top sales people did make a few more calls per day--but not 54 times more calls! The top people did return calls more promptly and had slightly better phone skills. The top people read more, and had a better understanding of their products, and were perhaps better at communicating with prospects.The essential piece, however, is that the top people were only slightly better, and the things that mattered were the ordinary, routine skills that everyone has to master. It was the "little things" that made all the difference!
If you watch the "March Madness" basketball tournament this week, you'll see this principle played out in every game. The winners are not necessarily more talented, younger, stronger or richer. Often the difference between winning and losing is a moment's lost concentration, or a small extra effort. The winners are not 54 times better, or even twice as good. I can safely predict that even in the national championships, the difference between winning and losing will be a tiny difference that makes all the difference!Winners practice for perfection. They pay more attention, they read more, they get up earlier and stay a bit later. They don't necessarily work harder, and the things they emphasize are not always big or dramatic, but they do work smarter! They focus on quality, on performance, on the "winning edge." So can you!The keys to success are not talent or wealth or luck or education. Someone once told me that winners are "ordinary people, doing ordinary things, extraordinarily well." I keep that truth visible on my desk every day. Today, do the ordinary tasks and routines of your life with extraordinary precision, with extraordinary energy, humor, warmth and passion. Those are the keys to long-term success!
Quotes of the Week
"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies." -- Mother Teresa
"We are what we repeatedly do." -- Aristotle
"Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace. The soul that knows it not, knows no release from little things." -- Amelia Earhart
"The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment." -- Dorothy Nevill
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