I recently had a conversation with a friend who's done some periodic speaking to college-age students and young professionals throughout his career, and he explained the way he typically likes to open his dialogue. It goes something like this:
"By show of hands, how many people in this room want to be average? It's alright, there's nothing wrong with average! Be honest."
*no hands raise*
"Ok, in that case, how many people in this room want to be successful?"
*all hands raise*
Call it cliche, call it slightly corny, but the effect is clear - no one strives to be average, everyone wants to be successful. He would tell his audience to look around them and observe their competition. As a sidetone, I do believe that success is attained more effectively through cooperation as opposed to competition, but when it's you vs. the other guy or girl, the reality is you're competing for that opportunity.
The important fact to soak up here is this: you're not the only one who wants what you want.
So if everyone wants to be successful, how do we set ourselves apart? How do we distance ourselves in a packed field of other eager success-minded individuals? For starters, a critical early step is to determine exactly what is we want, that is, the determine way in which we plan to achieve our goals.
So what do we want? Most people would say they want ‘success’. Well, what is success? Among other things, success requires you to be exceptional. In other words, it requires you to be the exception - not the norm. It requires you to somehow separate yourself from the rest of us who want the same thing. How do we do this? By paying attention to our attention, and by fiercely valuing our time. How we spend it will dictate the results we receive.
Time is your most precious asset. It can’t be loaned, it can’t be retracted. It may seem as if your time is dominated by the needs of others - work, family, friends, relationships - but the reality is that your time spent is just that, yours. If you don’t focus adequate time on accomplishing your goals, it’ll be awfully tough to accomplish your goals. How do I know this? Because chances are you’re not the only one who wants what you want.
If your track to success has slowed or seems to have hit a plateau, step back and note just how you're spending your time, and note the amount of focus and attention you're devoting to your craft. Time, attention and success all operate as a direct variation, meaning as one increases, the other does. The things we put energy into are the things that define our existence. Knowing that the competition for success is steep, and that we aren't alone in our pursuit, do what it takes to separate yourself. Do what it takes to be exceptional.
