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the United States has gone to war. Patriotism is the new American religion; firefighters, the new American heroes.
Everywhere you go, you are bombarded with new information and developments. As things continue to spin out of control, it can be so hard to feel like you are still the captain of your own ship, the master of your own fate.
The Gold Rush mentality that ushered in the “dot-com” economy left many people hungering to make their first million by the age of 25 and then retire to a life of fun and play. So, why didn’t Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft, retire along with them? We can only assume that he is in the game for more than money. The truth is that Gates likes the game. He likes to challenge himself and his people to change the world. One of the most amazing things this “Pope of PC” ever said is that he believes “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.”
This chapter is a reminder that, no matter how much the world changes (and your life changes with it), there are still some timeless truths about what it takes to be successful: truths that make as much sense today as they did 100 years ago.
Rule 1: Motivation Is the Key to Success
“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”
—Albert Einstein
Knowing your own motivational triggers is an important key to developing and sustaining a successful career. Some people are motivated to make a lot of money. I remember working, for example, with a stockbroker who was discontent with his $200,000-a-year income. To him, the dollars represented a scorecard. A man who made “only” $200,000 a year in financial services did not—in his estimation— qualify as an unmitigated success. To be truly successful, he wanted and needed to take more risks, which is why he ultimately ended up
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in the venture-capital business. To achieve that goal, however, he needed to have more confidence in his own abilities and judgment and more determination to pursue a riskier career path. Because he had a family (and a somewhat extravagant lifestyle) to support, he needed to do some real soul-searching before he cavalierly put that lifestyle at risk.
What he learned about himself from our counseling conversations is that he would never, ever jeopardize his family’s financial well-being. He would do everything in his power to ensure their financial security, including minimizing some of the risks he might otherwise take if he did not have a wife and a family to support. His motivation to make more money without putting his family at risk were dual motivating factors for him, which helped him make prudent investment decisions based on a solid appreciation of his own “risk tolerance.”
The Motivation of Money
Money is often an important motivating factor. But money doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone, nor does everyone have the same financial needs. For some people, money represents success. Others view it as a form of security. It can also provide a measure of autonomy, independence, and peace of mind. Or it can be a burden. For Claudia (the doctor who wanted to be a singer, who we discussed in chapter 1), the pursuit of money as a symbol of success was actually demotivating. Had she known herself better—and had the courage to stand up to her father—she would have chosen a career that was more intellectually and artistically stimulating. Although she appreciated (and still appreciates) the “value of a dollar,” she is more motivated to earn her dollars in positions that do not involve direct service. She simply finds the caretaking tasks of medicine too draining.
Know What Motivates You
The key to understanding personal motivation is in knowing what energizes you—what kinds of activities, people, places, and situations are personally stimulating and fulfilling? For John, a
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systems analyst, teamwork and a spirit of innovation are the keys to sustaining motivation. John has a tendency to change careers every three or four years because he outgrows his environment. When he begins to feel like he knows more than his boss and any of his colleagues or that the environment is resistant to change, he grows bored and needs to move on. After each job change, he finds himself reenergized by a new set of challenges and teammates. However, we have never been able to identify an environment that is socially and creatively stimulating enough to last longer. What John and I now understand about him is that he is not the kind of professional who is destined to start and end his career in a safe place. He likes his financial security. But his security does not depend on continuous employment with a single employer. His “nest egg” is something that he is building on his own, through dint of hard work and investment savvy.
Sally is motivated by the need to make a contribution. She needs to feel like her work matters and makes a difference. This need convinced Sally to switch from banking to fundraising. Both professions involve a “bottom-line” mentality; however, Sally enjoys the challenge of using her ingenuity and people skills to raise funds for worthy causes. In banking, she often felt like a cog in the wheel of commerce, rather than a real contributor.
Rule 2: Success Takes Hard Work
“I’m blown away by your ability to show up.”
That’s what Keanu Reeves’ character Conor O’Neill in the movie “Hard Ball” tells his ballplayers when, despite enormous odds, they make their way to the championship game. Of course, Hollywood thrives on these kinds of uplifting fantasies. The power of a dream coupled with determination and hard work turns out to be their particular formula for success.
Thomas Edison once remarked that “a genius is a talented person who does his homework.” He also wisely remarked that good fortune
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tends to favor the prepared. Henry Ford echoed that sentiment when he remarked, “Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.”
Any meteoric rise to success takes preparation and hard work. Bill Gates was a computer geek before he was catapulted into the world limelight. Michael Jordan was a hard-working and determined high school and college athlete before he became one of the greatest superstar athletes of all time. Yes, these are very rich men. They are also men who devoted themselves to their work, who were willing to work hard, and who are not afraid of setbacks and failures. They know that success depends on the ability to learn from mistakes, overcome challenges, and keep on keepin’ on.
Ambition Alone Isn’t Enough
It is not enough to be ambitious. The world is filled with ambition. But the path to success is littered with discarded dreams and disillusioned people who never achieved the recognition or success they felt they deserved. Is it because there’s isn’t enough room for everyone to be King or Queen of the Mountain? Or is it because people waste so much time and energy climbing the wrong mountain?
It’s natural to want to be a success. And it can be gratifying to find yourself on the fast track. But the knowledge that you were promoted often in your career is seldom enough to sustain you over the long haul—especially when the express lanes to the top get clogged with competition.
Sure, it would be great if you could just leapfrog over the people in front of you; if you could skip having to make investments of time, energy, and money in skill-and-credential-building and go straight to the rewards. As Jack Kerouac once said, though, “Walking on water wasn’t built in a day.” There’s a learning curve. Also, the lessons and skills you learn on the path to accomplishment might be every bit as rewarding as the end goal.
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