Not all people aspire to be successful. There are those that are successful, those that aren’t successful and want to be, and those that aren’t successful and don’t want to be. If you aspire to be successful, but aren’t yet, you need to surround yourself with successful people. Success is a mindset that you need to be around in order for it to rub off onto you.
Success is a way of thinking.
You may not have the close contacts to be around an outwardly successful person at first. Where you should start, is to be around someone with this mindset who you know, follow them online, reach out to them, interact with their work, send them an email, support their work, build a relationship online. A successful person is applicably disciplined at what they do and know where they want to be.
Successful people don’t waste their time, nor others for that matter.
Success means different things for different people. There is a common misconception which you see online, perpetuated by social media sites in particular, that success is how much you make, or how many followers you have etc. But, in a more definitive sense, it means, “have I achieved what I set out to achieve?”, or “have I reached my goal?”.
What I mean by success as a mindset, is one that is able to identify priorities, someone who is/will be successful, will know when to make sacrifices, and will be discipline in knowing what is important and what needs to get done.
Success is something that can be learned.
If you don’t know anyone with a successful mindset in your close circle of friends, you may need to surround yourself success online at first, as I mentioned above. Be inspired, be influenced, allow as much success in as it will take to keep you motivated to reach your goal.
People are driven by successful people, they want what they have.
You need to hang out with intellectually stimulating people, someone who will both challenge you, and encourage you. But what if I’m not close to those types of people? Then go out of your way to find them. Conferences, talks, meet ups, galleries. Go to places that attract people of a similar mindset.
When you find that person and make a connection with them, make sure they are on a similar level to you. What I mean is, make sure they are on the same step on the ladder of progression, in or around. If this person is in the same field, or even if they are not, and is as far in their career as you are, it’s a mutually beneficial relationship, since you are both at the same step, progressively, you can scale together, and learn skills from one another.
If you find yourself approaching someone on a much higher level than you, they are ahead of you in terms of progression in their career, insight, wisdom, their process, what to do in their field, contacts in their field, how to get thing done quickest, and the steps that got them there. They are past you and have experienced more, they have worked harder than you.
This is all extremely valuable information. So valuable in fact, that it must be compensated for in exchange for the amount of hat that information is worth, not just for you, but for the person indulging the information.
Now, the context has changed, you are no longer positioned side-by-side, mutually, with a successful minded person, you are under them, in a position seeking mentorship, this requires compensation for their time and advice.
Never put someone who is above you in a position where you are not compensating them for their time. To do so is insulting.
If you are looking up to a successful person, especially online, asking them for their time, more than likely, there are others doing the same. If you happen to get their attention, make sure you can adequately compensate their time, offering to discuss for coffee, is the equivalent of saying, I’ll pay you €3 for your time. But most importantly, make sure you ask the right questions.
This is why is easier to find a person with a successful mindset on the same level as you, someone who you don’t have to compensate, you can communicate easily, and grow together. A friend.
Ask yourself, are you the type of person that people would seek for advice? What step on the ladder are you at right now?
Always aim to climb the ladder.
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