I have been quite intrigued by how some people are able to achieve success in life while others pursuing the same goal under similar circumstances are not. It becomes more interesting when both groups of people have similar potential to achieve success.
A couple of months back, I decided to look at the whole cause and effect pandemonium in light of the control system theory. I figured we are like electronic devices with our own built-in closed circuits taking input and producing output. Think of us as amplifiers or oscillators if you will. The output we produce is directly or inversely proportionate to the input. For instance, if you reprimand a child for doing something undesirable, he would either stop or stay on doing it with greater zeal and vigour. One way or the other, our influence will impact his action. This is the simple cause and effect relationship where the output depends on the input. We see it all around us, all the time.
Now let’s get a bit more creative and think for a moment; can the output determine the input? Can we have our actions determine the influence rather than have the actions determined by the influence. This might sound simple at first. Since it is a closed loop, our actions determine the influence as much as they are determined by the influence. A favourable influence will result in a positive action, producing a stronger favourable influence and thus resulting in a stronger positive action. Notwithstanding what causes what once the cycle has started, there has to be an internal or external influence to cause the first action. Newton would call it force. I am calling it influence; same thing, different names.
A question arises then; what if the favourable influence does not exist as the starting point? What if all influences around us are negative or non-existent? In other words, if we say opportunities influence positive actions, and positive actions create positive feedback to create opportunities for more positive actions, what to do if the opportunity for that first positive action does not exist?
Do opportunities result in actions or do actions create opportunities? Does the input cause the output or does the output occur in isolation to instigate a series of input? This is the critical question that determines success in life. While I appreciate that successful people are generally good at identifying and making the most of opportunities, what largely determines success is one’s indifference to the existence of opportunities. Most successful people do not wait for opportunities to act. They bank on their inner grit as the only influence and work to achieve their first small success which creates an opportunity for a bigger success and thus a momentum is built. Their output creates input and intervenes throughout the flow to accentuate the strength of the input, impacting the efficacy of the output further. In terms of the control system theory, this would be loop gain.
All our favourite success stories were born this way; Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerbergs of our times do not wait for opportunities. When they first set off working on their idea from their garages, they have no clear opportunities in sight and no clue if they would ever come by. They don’t have the CEOs of major Silicon Valley VC firms lined up at the door. Their actions create opportunities. With due respect to Newton, it appears that the first law of motion does not hold true when it comes to these examples.
As you would recall, the law states that an object at rest tends to stay at rest and that an object in uniform motion tends to stay in uniform motion unless acted upon by a net external force. The thing is, successful people do not wait for a net external force acting upon them, neither does the continuation of their action rely on a constant intervention of an external force. Their action happens in absence of (and creates) an external force.
If you do the following, the law of action works to bring about success whether or not there is an opportunity to achieve success.
1. Create a perception of success
People would want to lend their attention to you, and invest time and money in you only if they see potential in you. The most compelling evidence of potential is past success. If they do not get a constant supply of successes to reaffirm their belief that you are successful, they will stop right there. With no continuous motion, the force that has been intensifying the motion will die out.
To create opportunities out of thin air, you have to create success first. But then, if you think your success can not arise in absence of an opportunity, why not create a perception of success to lure opportunities. Sometimes, you have to fake it till you make it. You have to start the positive feedback loop somewhere.
In your own mind, think of yourself as successful. Dress, walk and talk like successful people do. As much as you can while staying within your means and not coming across as a narcissistic egomaniac, embrace the lifestyle of success. Do it in a positive, socially conscientious way. Help people, share your knowledge with them, guide them to success, encourage them to positivity. You will feel successful and that feeling will resonate with those around you, taking in its cheerful embrace all the opportunities that once seemed out of sight.
2. Don’t wait for luck
I always thought that the shortest distance between failure and success is luck. It so appears now that if you account for the wait time, the shortest distance between failure and success is action. Acting now is crucial. If you want to be financially successful, pay off that credit card bill now even if that means using up every spare penny you have. If you want to be regarded as an opinion leader, write that first article or go make that first presentation now. The time would never be right to take the plunge. Hang on and don’t react to your fight-or-flight impulse; do the contrary, especially when it comes to flight.
It is not to say you would be successful the first time you take that leap of faith; quite the opposite in fact – you are more likely to fail than to succeed. But fail now to be successful later, rather than wait a life time for the right opportunity to act. If you play your cards right, you should be done with all your failures before you turn 30 and have the taste of your first success while you still have time to enjoy the perks of it. All too often, we underestimate how uncontrollable time is, until it’s too late to fail.
3. Take baby steps
If you don’t have an opportunity to begin with, start with tiny successes. Your first small success will lead you to an opportunity to achieve bigger success and your positive feedback loop will come alive. We all have those little moments to shine and to make a difference. Take all your elevator speeches, your time out with your boss, your class reunions, your savings and your good health as opportunities to achieve those little successes. Plan only as much as you need to achieve that first little success. Do keep your vision of the future intact, but don’t be overwhelmed by all it takes to reach there in the next five or ten years. Focus on what you can achieve today or this week that will eventually lead you to that bigger success.
4. Don’t care about getting it right the first time
Who said you ought to get it right the first time, every time? Life isn’t a fairytale or a Nikon ad campaign. When it comes to learning success, action is your school, and failure your teacher. Try and get along with your teacher if you wish to graduate from the school of action into the real life of success. Failure is not a cause for shame; it is a step in the right direction. It is the path to the destination. How can you just skip the path and land right at the destination? The sooner you set out on that journey the sooner you will reach there.
5. Have the attitude for success
Let’s be real. There is no net external force out there that cares enough to make you successful. However there is an internal force in us all and it emanates from self-awareness. Call it your ambition, your will to succeed or your drive to be persistent. No matter what you call it, it is this internal force that shapes up your attitude for success. And your attitude for success is what creates your disregard for the existence of opportunities and your reliance on action. Not only that, the positivity of your attitude attracts like-minded people to you that creates opportunities for continuation of your action.
6. Be willing to outstretch
Challenging yourself does not always have to be about trying out unachievable feats. Dream big but cherish small achievements that require you to outstretch beyond your known potential at present. As you grow, how much you can outstretch will grow with it. Anyone can come up with big ideas, but not too many are willing to do what it takes to implement small ideas. Remember all the famous people who made others’ ideas possible? You just have to challenge yourself to do something that is achievable but has an element of outstretch to it too. Your learning along the way will prepare you for bigger challenges, way beyond your known potential. Your potential can still be limited. You don’t need to be a genius. All geniuses are not successful just like all successful people are not geniuses. You’d rather be successful than a genius.
7. Be thankful for opportunities
When your actions create opportunities, be thankful to those who acknowledged your positive actions and provided you with greater opportunities. It serves to multiply your opportunities further. When you show gratitude, it is not just your action creating opportunities but your thankfulness as well. It is almost miraculous how action and gratitude can join forces to manufacture success for you even when the odds seem against you at first.
To me, this is the law of action; beyond repudiation. I have seen far too many examples to disregard this as something less than a law of nature. When you set your eyes on a goal and work persistently to achieve it, your first action is not necessarily proportionate to the success it creates, it hardly ever is. It takes time to generate the inertia that creates a success proportionate to the action, or even go beyond that to create a success far bigger than your action. So when it comes to human success, I’m pretty sure the object doesn’t need a net external force to move it.
Photo credit: webtreats (original image has been modified)
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