Success will mean something different to everyone. It is generally seen and put in the context of achieving a certain goal or objective. I believe the vagueness on what success is lies in not having clear metrics and a definite goal in mind when we set out to achieve whatever we want to achieve.
I've heard somewhere that success is a self perpetual game. Meaning that you win only when you decide that you've won. Modern standard of what success is seems unwinnable in my opinion because it is a bit delusional, unrealistic. Besides, given the rapid pace we're living in, it is constantly changing.
A trifecta is a set of three qualities or criteria that have to be checked to attain something, in this case success. Based on personal experience and observation, I've noticed a trifecta for success.
Keep in mind that the term success is not vague in this post. It is achieving a clearly defined goal that one sets out to conquer. What is the trifecta that determines the likelihood of achieving success?
Consistently Better
Consistency is definitely a much needed quality to succeed for it moves the needle forward taking us closer to our goal. However, after some time, it only keeps the engine running and the hope of achieving the goal alive. At some point, more variables have to be introduced and this is where the concept of consistently better comes in.
According to the internet, Einstein said madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Will it be madness if we do the same thing better with each iteration? I don't think so because now the straight line has been broken so expecting a different result is valid.
I've notice that there are some people(myself included) who reach a plateau after achieving their first milestone. They think that what got them is enough to take them all the way to their end target. So they start getting complacent.
This is simply not the case. We have to constantly reinvent ourselves, to grow and evolve, fine tuning our qualities. Hence, consistently getting better.
Response To Failure Or Obstacles
Failure is pretty much inevitable and sometimes, we've been punch so hard by it that we fell on our knees. It's always easier to just lie down and take a good break or even forget about the goal altogether than mustering the courage to get up and stand on our feet again and keep walking.
This time, it is Winston Churchill that said you will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks at you. Transposing it into this post, you will never reach your goal if you stop and take a-more-than-needed-break every time failure visits you or you experience an obstacle.
Achieving success is not easy. Everything we want comes with a cost. This doesn't mean wanting nothing is without a cost. Just ask a hermit. However, somethings are costlier that others. And success is one of the costliest. It is why they say it is not for everyone. However, I believe we ought to strive to succeed given the transformation it brings. You can't succeed without becoming different.
Intensity
We clearly don't have all the time in the world. There is a sense of urgency towards achieving the goal, a bit of paranoia towards time.
Basically, how bad you want it, will determine when and if you'll get it or not. There is this aspect of time in setting goals. And the shorter the time span, the more intensity is called for in achieving it.
I've learnt this technique of compressing time frames. This is when we reducing the time it will take to complete a task. The goal is to do more in less time. For example, instead of aiming for perfection and spending 3 hours on drafting a post. I can reduce the time to one hour and a half or two hours max. Giving me an extra hour to spend on another task.
On a macro level, what would've normally taken a decade can be done in five years. Or what would've taken years, done in one year or some months. Think of it like turning up the heat when cooking a meal. In many cases, the increase in intensity of the heat will make the meal to be ready sooner.
In Conclusion
In the intro, I said the likelihood of success because having the above trifecta doesn't guarantee success. Whether we agree or not, luck often plays a part. For how else can we make sense of the situation of the person who did everything right and still didn't end up succeeding?
Although, the universe can work in mysterious ways, we should nevertheless equip ourselves with unmysterious knowledge on our path to success. Through being consistently better, a quick response to failure and condensing time frames.
Thanks for reading!! Share your thoughts below on the comments.