Sustaining success, and going beyond success is nearly impossible for most people. Hence Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism questions, “Why don’t successful people and organizations automatically become very successful?”
McKeown’s answer is succinct: Success is a catalyst for failure.
Being invisible is easy. When you make mistakes, you’re the only one who notices. Even being the underdog is easy. If you fail, you’re justified in doing so.
But when the spotlight is on you, everyone is waiting for you to fail. The external pressure often becomes too overpowering, smothering the values and vision it took to become successful in the first place.
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This is true in all life domains. If you succeed in business, life doesn’t get easier. It gets harder.
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If “success” is your primary objective, you probably won’t get it. Chasing success is like chasing happiness. You can’t pursue it directly. Both success and happiness ensue from something far more fundamental — who you are.
Success comes from consistency to your vision and values. Although difficult because of the added noise that comes from success, becoming “very” successful requires remaining consistent to your vision and values — who you are.
When you stay consistent and true, you’ll continue to hone your craft, even after you become world-class.
You’ll say “no” to all of the distractions that come your way, no matter how enticing they are.
You won’t let your ego inflate and forget who you really are. You won’t abandon your values and the most important people in your life.
Curated from How To Go From Successful To Very Successful (and why most people can’t do it) [Medium]
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