The Success Delusion
The time when you make the most stupid decisions is when you become ‘successful’. When success hits you it reaches you and showers you with that feeling of achievement. You feel invincible. You are just riding a wave of ‘feeling good’.
You must watch out. You must be careful. Because this is a test. A test of your character, a test of your nature. A test of human nature.
All of us do this. I’ve been very guilty of it in the past, I accomplish something decent and then I ponder over that when there is more to be done. I’m not against celebrating, by all means…celebrate the little victories you get. That builds momentum for you to create flow.
But a lot of us get hung up on our success and accomplishment, we stop, we slow down, we get lazy and complacent, even if it’s just a little and it can creep up on us without even noticing and BOOM… you’re a little far behind than expected and now you have to play catch up.
It’s not until you notice it or someone calls you out and you’re like “Oh shit… I need to get this work done, I’m falling behind and there is no one to blame but me. I caused this to happen.”
“We need to be reminded more than we need to be taught.” - Alex Hormozi
Sometimes we need a good slap in the face to keep us accountable, keep us awake, keep us on our toes and do the work that is not done.
We have got it the wrong way around in society.
Your failure equals stupidity. Your success equals you are smart. No no no. Do not… fall into that trap.
The most learnable moments are the times when you do fail and those learnable moments are what make you smarter. When you hit that ceiling, you fail (part of the process) and then the ceiling gets higher. It’s like a wall you're climbing and once you’ve learnt the lesson and you’re ready to move on… the ceiling knows, it moves up higher and then you start climbing again and you hit it again and on and on.
That is The REAL climbing the ladder to success. Hitting the ceiling of failure, learning the lesson, understanding it and then you’re ready for the next level. And you take yourself as far as you can go.
Whereas in society, if you succeed very quickly or on the first go… what have you actually learnt? Yes, this thing worked… this time. How do you know it wasn’t luck, how do you know the gods weren’t on your side this time, how do you know it was because of your skill set and skill level? It’s hard to tell, isn’t it?
If you’re striving to make your first million and you hit it… congratulations!
BUT…
That is your most vulnerable moment, that is the moment where you will be the most stupid, because…. for that moment, you think you can do it all, “I’ve got this in the bag.” Success can be a curse, depending on what road you let it take you down. Don’t let success take you, you take success, you take control.
The millionaire explanation is the most straightforward to understand.
What got you to one million won’t get you to ten million.
What got you to ten million won’t get you to one hundred million.
What got you to one hundred million won’t get you to a billion.
And on and on.
We must constantly be learning, evolving and growing. This is the mark of being a human. This is the mark of our nature.
Mental Toughness is the ability to forgive yourself and move on.
Success Toughness is the ability to pat yourself on the back for doing a job well done and keep going.
Until next time,
Brody
