Then Number One Trait of Success
The most educated more often fail than succeed on any truly remarkable level.
All you have to do is look at any number of assessments and studies of college graduates to see the appalling numbers, especially considering the high (and inflated) cost of most programs.
So many people spend four or more years of their lives to get a degree that is next to worthless in the real world - and yet they wind up tens of thousands of dollars in debt and working in a field their field of study had nothing to do with.
Often a field they could have gone directly into four years earlier without a degree and without taking on crazy levels of debt.
Yet some with advanced education do succeed where most others fail. Even more impressive is the number of people who have no formal advanced education at all (college/university) at all - yet manage to own and operate very successful and profitable businesses.
So how is that possible?
Read on and find out in a minute or two.
Military Elite Training and Drop Rates
Every branch of service has its elite units. They are the best of the best, and most people who attempt to join them fail.
Even then from the applicants who do make it past all the initial tests and screening and who do make it to the advanced training - the vast majority will not graduate from the most elite of those programs, and all of them will drop considerable numbers of people.
One example is the US Navy SEALs. Their drop rate is and has been for a long time about 75% - meaning 3 of every 4 will not make it through BUDS (Basic Underwater Demolition/Seal) training which is a 24-week intensive training program designed to develop (and test) mental and physical stamina.
Notice the order of the words "mental and physical".
The point is that it is not always - nor is it usually, the biggest, or physically toughest who make it through - although you would probably think it would be. Nope. The people who more often survive the training are the ones with a certain MINDSET and a specific unwavering dog with a bone kind of tenacity who just won't quit.
Pick any other elite units - including Green Beret, Rangers, Marine Recon, or those comparable units from any other service and from any other counterpart in any other country - and they all have very similar requirements in terms of testing people - especially mentally.
Though perhaps not quite as extreme, business will test you too, and it will try to break you - to see whether you have what it takes to succeed or not.
Harlan Sanders Just Didn't Know When to Quit
Harlan failed again and again at many things he set out to do in life. But his passion and the one thing he never quit on was cooking fried chicken.
He came up with an idea to sell his recipe along with his cooking system and methods in exchange for a percentage of the profits (today we would call that franchising).
Apparently, he was a very interesting character with a foul mouth to go along with his determination.
In his early days trying to build his empire, he was selling chicken and other food to truck drivers out of a gas station. When he tried to get others to pay him for the use of his recipe, he was told NO again and again and again.
But he never quit.
He just kept after it until someone eventually said yes - and the rest as they say - is history.
Call him what you will - but he never quit trying and in the end, he was very successful despite countless failed attempts.
He only achieved his ultimate success because he never quit working towards it.
Never heard of him before? Perhaps you may know him better as Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame.
What is the Number One Trait of Success?
Drive.
Though the same concept is described differently and some may call it tenacity, stubbornness, determination, passion, self-discipline, or drive (as in Success Driven Systems ; ).
With it - anything is possible.
Without it, no tool, resource, level of education nor amount of coaching and mentoring will ever help you much.
Wealthy Affiliate and other training, coaching, and mentoring resources can provide you with all kinds of resources that will help you achieve your own success if you use what is available to you and take consistent action.
But the most critical ingredient of your own recipe for success must be furnished by you and by you alone.
Your DRIVE must come from within you, deep down inside to your core. Find it. Harness it. Use it, and you will amaze yourself at what becomes possible for you.
Have a great day my friend, and make it count!
Until next time - always remember - Choose Your Own Course, Build a Better Life...
Best Regards,
L.D. Sewell
Recent Comments
26
A great read LD!
Having the right mindset along with the drive and determination to succeed are essential for any success.
We can have all the training and tools in the world but if we don't have the drive to utilise what is available then we won't get far.
I hope you are having a fantastic day too my friend!
Thanks.
"We can have all the training and tools in the world but if we don't have the drive the utilise what is available then we won't get far."
I like that - very well said.
Have a great day too my friend, and make it count!
Best regards,
L.D. Sewell
Great success story, eh?
Drive...yes, something needed to achieve success. Couple that with the discipline to carry it out, and you have a win-win scenario.
All of the training in the world can only get you so far without the drive to succeed and the discipline to carry it out.
Thanks for sharing!
Rudy
That's right Ld as you explain so well in your post. You will reach your goals with determination. There are few who make it and excel in all disciplines.
The question they will all answer you in the affirmative:
Are you willing to make all the effort it takes to reach the goal?
Only this small group will achieve it.
Excellent post, thank you!.
This is an excellent post, LD! I knew the Colonel Sanders story, and that man had Grit! My University Degree hangs on the wall collecting dust. Fortunately, it did not cost me a dime (the military paid for it), but it did coast a lot of time, and it was a good experience!
Degrees are way overpriced, and my dean once told me that a degree simply shows that we are trainable--when you actually get to the job, they will tell you--"Forget what you learned, this is how we do it HERE!"
Experience is much more preferable to a formal education, IMHO, and lie those elite units and Col. Sanders, we MUST have that dogged determination!
Jeff
Thanks Jeff,
Years of study and real-world experiences have taught me, again and again, those same realities.
Some of the people I have worked for and with have been extremely successful in business - and in all cases, they had extreme levels of determination (almost fanatical) and would keep going in spite of all odds and obstacles.
Even when others disagreed - they stayed on their own true course - and achieved success where so many others failed in the same arenas.
Best regards,
L.D. Sewell
Nothing beats experience, LD!
This was an excellent post!
Enjoy your weekend (Frisatsu)
Jeff
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An excellent post, LDS!
The question is, where do people find the drive?
Perhaps another word is motivation?
I think drive largely comes from a powerful combination of knowing clearly what we want to achieve, with clarity and conviction on why we want to achieve it.
Do you agree?
:-)
Richard
I think so too Richard - that defines what it is nicely, but one of the things I think too many people make a mistake with is looking for and seeking it from someone else or something else exclusively.
For example - WA.
WA has wonderful information, tools, training, community, support - almost everything anyone needs to become more successful.
Yet any person wanting it has to want it bad enough to show up and take action - and keep showing up and taking action (Drive) and that is not something that WA can provide - nor can anything or anyone else. It comes from inside or it does not come at all...
In the end, it must come from WITHIN.
Best regards,
L.D. Sewell
Agreed!
:-)
Richard