Finding Success in Pursuing One's Occupational Goals

Finding Success in Pursuing One's Occupational Goals

J. Paul Getty is said to have said, summarizing his success strategy.If you're not already an early riser, you should be; I'm a big proponent of the habit. Work hard and strike oil are the other two components of this recipe, and they apply regardless of what time of day you decide to get up.

Ten years ago, when I first came across this remark, I had to chuckle since it seemed to imply that in order to succeed, all you had to do was work hard and pray for some good fortune. A decade later, though, I understand the deeper significance, and I'm going to tell you why Getty's idea—more than anything else you may read could be the key to achieving your goals for the rest of your life.

It All Depends on What You Anticipate

In the end, whether or not you anticipate finding oil depends entirely on your own optimism. The discussion is over. This is the point from whence all else develops. Truthfully, if you don't put in the effort, you won't reap any rewards. But you won't put in the effort in the first place unless you have a firm belief that you'll eventually succeed (or at least be successful at learning from the experience).

The way things are is exactly the way they are. Your confidence in your ability to complete the task at hand will determine how eager you are to get started and how determined you will be to see it through to its conclusion. (As an aside, sometimes it isn't even required to believe in success; you may be driven by the knowledge that your action will serve a greater purpose, such as a 'failed' demonstration igniting a wider public awareness down the line.)

If you boil this idea down to its essence, you'll realize that if you have a firm conviction that you'll achieve your goal, you almost certainly will. This isn't because your confidence causes your efforts to bear fruit; rather, it's because you won't give up taking massive action until you achieve your goal.

If you think success is certain, you won't let the fear of "failure" (in the usual sense) hold you back. Instead, it is only an example of a failed endeavor. It's just another lesson in life that you should take in and learn from, rather than run away from in terror.

If you have faith that your perseverance will pay off in the end, you'll go for your goal with more gusto, enthusiasm, and diligence. The fact that your work really matters will make you enthusiastic about it. You have confidence that whatever it is you're doing is valuable and will lead to the outcome you want.

Being sure of your convictions frees you to ask "How can I..." rather than "Why can't I..." When you're sure of yourself, you'll be able to reframe problems from stumbling blocks to stimulating opportunities for development.

As for Me, I've Put in My Time

As a ten-year-old living in Brooklyn, New York, I was subjected to this situation. My mother was killed, my father was sent to jail for life, and I was almost destitute until a relative who was an alcoholic and a drug addict took me in.

People were amazed that I didn't become involved with drugs, drink, or any of the gang activities that were so prevalent during those years, even after I had gotten away from the continuous environment of drugs and violence. Instead of becoming any of those things, I focused on getting good grades and staying out of (most) trouble.

The thing that really kept me safe was that I didn't really accept the idea that I could get involved in any of those things in the first place, which is something that I found to be quite humorous, even though some people believed it was a solid foundation of strength that kept me on the straight and narrow. I believed I was meant to stay away from them, and I simply didn't know any better.

It never occurred to me since I didn't believe it was feasible or appropriate for me. The issues you mentioned were ones that "other people," but not me, dealt with. In reality, I saw the difficulties I encountered on a daily basis as opportunities to grow and mature, with the ultimate goal of making a positive impact on my life someday. And wham! That's precisely what transpired.

I did everything because I was certain that, in the end, I would be successful. I knew I could make it through this, and I would be OK. that I'd have oil luck. And it's no different from the mentality you'll need to achieve any other ambition.

What would you try if you knew you couldn't fail? This is a popular question often asked. Despite its apparent merits (and make no mistake, it is meritorious), it falls short in key respects. It's easy to fantasize about what you'd accomplish if you knew you couldn't fail, but it doesn't help when your brain is telling you, "Hey moron, you're probably going to fail. Don't you understand that?" The initial inquiry is worthwhile, but it requires expanding upon.

My experience has taught me that it's more productive to ask, "What would you try knowing that you'll eventually succeed, despite all of the "failures" that are bound to occur along the way?"than to speculate about what "could" happen.

Because, let's face it, life has a habit of dishing out some pretty nasty things. More bad things will happen to you than good ones. But finding oil requires digging further, regardless of how many rocks are encountered. As a matter of fact, extensive drilling is anticipated to be required to reach that oil reserve.

Let's speak about what we may reasonably anticipate from one another. In its most basic meaning, anticipation is the absolute conviction that some future event will take place.

You can't go all out toward a significant objective until you've settled at least five issues.

First and Foremost, You Must Believe that You, Personally, Can Accomplish this Objective

This is a major deal. It's far simpler for people to accept that a goal is "possible" than to accept that it's "possible for them." They doubt their ability to succeed because they feel they lack something essential, whether it's time, skill, means, or anything else. Unspoken in their minds is the belief that they will not be among those who "have what it takes."

Really? What a bunch of nonsense. The capacity to take action will be severely impaired if you think that, even a little bit. You'll never put in your whole effort and stay on task until completion. If this describes you, you should take care of this first. ( Keep your eyes peeled for a forthcoming post where I detail exactly how to do this. When it's finished, I'll add a link here.

Second, No Matter How Large the Resource Deficit is, You Should Always Anticipate Closing it

This is a pretty major deal, too. When you have a big target in sight, it might be discouraging to think that you'll never reach it. After all, how can you go up against the world's top achievements after they've already made their mark? The answer may be found by observing regular practitioners, such as the slim, broke college boy Michael Dell, who took on industry giants IBM and Hewlett-Packard (and is still winning). A hundred more tales like his will have come and gone by the time you read this, years from now.

One must always, always, always hold onto the hope that any void in resources may be filled. You can find a way to overcome any obstacle, whether it's a lack of time, money, labor, or relationships.

Because you won't use your utmost effort to close the resource gap if you don't think it can be, it will remain unbridged. But if you think it will be fixed in the end, that's exactly what will happen. Again, look out for a future post that will explain how to do this. When it's finished, I'll add a link here.

Third, You Should Always Assume that You Can Figure Out a Method to Solve Every Issue that Arises

A trouble-free existence is impossible to ensure. But I am certain that whenever you are faced with a difficulty, you look at it not as a problem but as an opportunity. Give this some thought and figure out how you're going to adjust your perspective. (In the meanwhile, be sure to save this page and come back for a link to a forthcoming article on how to do this.)

Fourth, you should always assume that what you do makes a difference. Every single one of them.

It's vital that you understand this. You won't take action if you believe it won't make a difference down the road. But if you know that your actions add up, that the pyramids are constructed one brick at a time, and that each one counts, then you'll be motivated to take action even when you don't want to or feel like it.

Keep in mind that everything you do has an impact. You should adjust your thinking if you don't agree that it does. This topic will soon be the subject of my next essay.

Fifth, Confidence in Your Ability to Quicken the Path to Your Goal's Realization is Essential

I really like this one. In order to speed up the process of getting things done, it's important to develop the habit of consistently following through and taking action. The concept of "Million Dollar Leverage" revolves around just this.

Maintaining the conviction that you can maximize the use of all your resources will cause you to unconsciously search for means of doing so, increasing the likelihood that you will succeed. And it will speed up your progress toward success. Considerably quicker.

So, hopefully, I've convinced you that expecting to succeed (whatever "success" means to you) is the key to achieving your goals. If you haven't gotten the point yet, read this article until you do. The next step is to put your hopes to the test and realign them with reality. It requires some effort, but if you put in the time and effort, you will see far better results than you have ever seen before in much less time than you would think possible (unless your expectation is to see results right away :).

Get a pen and paper and write down your goals; doing so will help you internalize and act upon them. Start now; you'll be glad you did afterwards.