It is hard to accept failure, but it worse never to have tried to succeed–Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), U. S. President, Nobel Peace Prize winner.
We often wonder about those who have made it big in their profession. Their very names epitomize excellence and they are regarded with envy by others and are seen as the standard bearers in their endeavors. So, what makes them great? Are they born to be great or grow up to be who they become?
These questions have bedeviled humanity since the ages and people have tried to find the magic that makes these superstars who they have become. Often, too, is that these extraordinary achievers glow in the fame of their achievements and become even more famous by virtue of being famous. After a certain degree of achievements being famous becomes a virtuous cycle!
To hold that these superstars have some god-given gifts is to accept that the rest of us have to settle for what we have been given ourselves and to be content with it. Although this is a valid view, it is disempowering. It acknowledges our own limitations and our resignation to the fate we accept. Although this can be a comforting perspective, it defeats the basic tenets of human potential.
Although fate plays an important part in how things play out for us in our lives, free will always triumphs. Merely blaming fate for our plight is a sorry excuse for not trying with our free will engaged in our ongoing plans to succeed. In the context of card games it is said that it is not the hand that you hold, but it is how you play that hand that counts. Stories abound of poker players who have won millions of dollars by holding a confident hand, far inferior to those who folded in diffidence.
One reason, perhaps, is that often, we prefer to attribute someone’s success to our linear view of cause and effect. Although cause and effect are central to any outcome, identifying one or a few causes for someone’s success can be simplistic. Many factors that result in someone’s success are not known or are unknowable.
There are myriad reasons why and how someone succeeds and goes on to become a superstar. Ability, opportunity, determination, hard work, timing, luck, and the power to deal with success are but a few of the factors that play their part. Looking at the characteristics of many superstars some common traits emerge. This article is an attempt to make a list of those common traits. Most of these traits are learned and practiced behaviors:
- Achievers start early in what they set out to do. Although there are many examples of late bloomers who went on to make a name for themselves, superstars often get their inspiration early in life and a direction that gives them an edge.
- Singularity of their focus is another reason why achievers succeed. Mediocre performers lack a singular focus in what they set out to pursue. Their desultory approach and dilettantish attitude toward their endeavors produce an outcome that speaks for their passion, or its absence, towards their pursuits. Often, too, they will go after success rather than the achievement. The difference between the two is that of an outcome and the process. Focusing on the process with relentless attention can often give you the edge that results in the “success” that others are after.
- Even for those who have struggled all their lives, superstars hold the attitude that their time is yet to come. They do not give up nor do they rest on their laurels. Ask any superstar about their best moment and they will tell you that they are still waiting for it. They do not let their “friends,” who have succeeded in their own endeavors stand as exemplars of achievement. They are not distracted by how others, especially their peers, are moving up in the world while they continue to struggle with their own challenges.
- Achievers do not consider a setback as a defeat. They learn from it and find other avenues to go after what they pursue. They subscribe to the Winston Churchill’s idea that success consists of jumping from failure to failure without admitting defeat!
- Achievers maintain a singular focus on their goal. Their implacable commitment to their goal is evidenced by their disregard for almost anything else.
- Achievers are constant learners. They do not pass up a chance to learn something new even though the learning opportunity presents itself at a most inconvenient time. They do not let their ego drive their actions.
- Achievers hold a broad view of the world around them. They are open to new even radical ideas on how to do things. Non-achievers are petty in their view of the world and are not willing to easily surrender their deeply held views to other, richer perspectives. Such people hold deeply entrenched views to the point of projecting prejudice in how they see things. They are not easily persuaded even by incontrovertible evidence that conflicts with their view of the world.
- Achievers are nice to those around them and do not demean others just because they can get away with it. They may lose patience with those who themselves hold entrenched views but not without giving them the benefit of the doubt first.
- Achievers do not let their ego get the best of them. They will be the first to acknowledge to others if someone tries and succeeds to one-up them, without any malice or rancor.
Contrary to the conventional wisdom a superstar is a rara avis but they are not all that rare as we think of them, especially if you apply some of the measures listed above. Just because a superstar has not attained the fame, fortune, and glory that a very few go on to achieve, there are superstars in our everyday life. Just open your eyes and look around. You’d be surprised!