Conditions For Success

Many of us are motivated by the idea of being successful. There’s a traditional definition that we’ve been fed for most of our lives that success is about being wealthy, and many people chase that ideal until they realize it doesn’t make them happy. 

To be truly successful, each of us must define what success looks like for ourselves and then have the courage to pursue it. And to begin finding that, I'd like to recommend using John Wooden’s definition of success as a better place to start than what society has provided us: “Success is peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.”

There’s a saying Ed Mylett says a lot that goes “success leaves clues”. The idea is that you can observe what successful people do and let it guide the choices and actions that you take. But that guidance is only helpful if this person has achieved what you authentically want. And if that’s true, there’s a lot you can borrow from their life experience to inform your approach.

But still I think we’re missing our biggest opportunity. As with most things, the right answer isn’t waiting to be discovered in the outside world. It’s already within us. And while it’s easy for people to look to others to figure out how to be more successful, what’s less common is for people to take the time to understand the conditions that have made them successful in the past.

If you want to achieve better life-balance you can look to see how your favorite influencer-CEO does it... Or you can think back on the last time you had it for yourself. If you want to start turning failures into lessons that fuel your growth, you can listen to a podcast about it... Or reflect on the personal mindset shifts that worked for you the last time you got through it.

If you were to start studying yourself as much as you studied others, your success would accelerate. And that’s simply because you’re pulling from insights that are most likely to work for you because they already did. Central to this is having feedback loops in place that prompt you to reflect on your ups and downs. It’s by being more aware of it all that you can better position yourself to succeed with it.

In other words, identify your conditions for success, plant yourself in those conditions, and watch your success grow!