After I graduated from college, I had big expectations for success.  It would be on a meteoric climb up the organizational ladder.  I’d sit in the corner office with several aids at my beck and call.  Half of my day would be spent counting my money and the other half would be on playing golf, or something more fun than work.  Sure, I knew I would have to work my way up, but that wouldn’t take too long once people witnessed the power of my knowledge, skills and abilities.  Okay, maybe my credentials would impress them too.  I do have two graduate degrees.  That’s got to be considered as ‘career bling,’ right?

Well, it didn’t take too many years on the job to figure out that I had assessed the environment incorrectly.   I mean….I was really wrong.   But all of those people on TV managed to achieve great success, why can’t I?  What can they do that I can’t?  As it turns out, there are quite a few things that have contributed to their success that I never considered early on.  Here’s a few you might want to write down somewhere and think about how it fits in your idea of success.

They’ve got natural ability.  Some people are just got at a certain things and most times it’s very obvious.  One of my wife’s high school classmates, Brent, was in this group.  He was one of those people who could walk into an auditorium and sing without the need for a microphone.  It was amazing. So much so, he was invited to attend Juilliard in NYC.  The important point here is that some people can provide a return on investment much faster than others.   I love to sing too but it would take too many years to teach me to do it better with no guarantee that I could even get close to sounding as good as Brent.  To put this into today’s corporate terms, if I’ve got to train you, I’ve hired the wrong person.  Companies don’t have training budgets anymore.  I’m not sure they’ve ever wanted them.  They want people who can walk into a job and be fruitful from the first day.

Are you in a job that aligns with your natural abilities?  Are you using your talents?  If not, you’ll find it hard to be highly successful.  Write down your natural strengths.  Talk to others to verify what they see in you.  Do they see your natural strengths?   

They practice a lot.  This may seem a little unexpected but those highly successful and talented people we want to emulate put a lot of effort into their craft.  One of my former colleagues was a golfer.  He was good at it and qualified to play in the Buy.com golf tournament for amateurs.  A good performance at this event would ensure a great start to a highly successful career, or at least he would have put himself in the right environment where his performance would determine his path.  Wouldn’t we all like to be there?  One day I asked him about his game and how he became so good at it.  He mentioned that he would hit thousands of golf balls each weekend.   My arms fall off after two buckets of ball at the driving range.  He said it was to develop ‘muscle memory.’  This is essentially performing a movement so many times that your muscles don’t need a lot of sensory input to perform the task successfully.  You see this phenomenon on TV a lot when you see basketball players make jumpshots from great distances without even looking at the goal.  How do they do it?  Memory. 

How many of us can say that we can do our jobs successfully and consistently with very little effort?  Have you honed your skills to such a professional level?  Great success requires great sacrifice.

They do what they love.  How many of us aren’t sure what we want to do but we are sure it isn’t what we are doing now?  I’ve certainly been in that situation a time or two.  It’s an easy trap to fall into.  You get a new job with a good salary.  After six months or so, the novelty wears off and you realize you are in a job, not a career.  However, the pain isn’t bad enough for you to change jobs again. You live with it for longer than you should.  Your challenge is that you put yourself in a position where your natural abilities aren’t allowed to flourish.  You’re a brilliant college graduate working in an environment that has too much structure.  There’s a process or procedure for everything.  You’re told how to do it, where to do it and when to do it.  So, you’re results are less than perfect.  The highly successful are a little more fortunate in that they love what they do.  Their natural abilities and constant practice make them good at it.  Most people like things they are good at.  Now imagine you are paid to do something you are really good at. It makes you want to be better. 

Are you doing what you love or are you just doing something to pay your bills hoping that someone will stop by to offer you the opportunity of a lifetime?  Are you excited to go to work?  If not, you’re success may be a reflection of this attitude.

They’ve been found.  There is something to be said for being in the right place at the right time or even just being in the right place.  There are people with great talents all over the world.  Are they all highly successful?  Probably not.  I’m sure one of the greatest basketball players in the world will never be seen on TV.  Why?  He’ll never be found by agents.  Many of us grow up in environments that aren’t overflowing with opportunity.  Even, Chris Langan, the guy with one of the highest IQs in the world (195) never finished college and spends his time on a horse ranch.  His choice of environment has been the limiting factor to his success.  The horses won’t pay him a lot of money for better feed, even if he could invent it.  Just as with those athletes that are never found by an agent, you won’t find the highest levels of success if you’re in an environment that doesn’t want it.  You have to go where your skills and abilities are really needed, appreciated and rewarded.

Are you in a company that rewards great talent?  Are they constantly seeking out the most qualified individuals or do they only seek someone to fill the position?  If not, you need to find the right place.  Start your quest by talking to the right people.  Who are they?  Stay tuned.