The long and winding road to success

Copyright (c) 2009 John Kenworthy

Pop into any bookstore and in the business section you'll find at least fifty current books promising 'instant success' or the '4 steps to achieving your dreams' or the 'easy guide to getting everything in life you ever wanted'. A bright, cheerful picture adorns the front cover, often the author, who tells you that this book contains the secret that you have been seeking.

After 35 years life experience, I thought to bring you some rather bad news: "There are no short-cuts to your success".

Sorry. There are a whole lot of myths and legends but as Seth Golden points out in Permission Marketing, "There's no such thing as an overnight opera sensation. Great firm's don't spring up overnight. They've been built the same way - bit by bit, step by step, little by little. Is there a road to success?

There are many - and you may find that one of these great delusions promises so much more than someone else.

Many people start their journey along the 'opportunity-leverage-productivity' route. Parents seek and strive for their children to get into the best schools, gain excellent grades and hence be assured of a place at the best universities to gain a degree which will enable you to leverage your qualifications into a decent position and a fulfilling career. Just work, work work, and then work harder and just a little more - and you will succeed.

I believed it all too - then the company went bust, I was out of work and, at the time, no-one was hiring.

Attend a few events and be inspired with the latest 'secret of success' seminar. Meeting exactly the right person is a matter of luck and the good fortune to be just when the time is ripe and I will have my deserved break...

'Impossible' beckons you back and it is easy to begin criticizing those incredibly lucky few who are apparently succeeding in 'your' space. After all, you are so much more deserving than they...

The right people just haven't met me yet. So sign-up for another networking group, exchange business cards, remember the adage 'givers gain', meet lots of new people. One of them, surely is the right person and I will be there at the right time. All I need is to be recognised for the brilliant, hard-working individual that I am and I will have my reward...


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