The more I think about the skills and habits that are most essential to achieving success in any field, the more it comes back to two simple skills we each already possess but often make little use of.
The first is awareness.
Rather than reading more books, listening to more podcasts, and taking more courses, all the information we need is laid out in front of us, waiting to be discovered and applied to our work.
There are likely hundreds if not thousands of people doing similar work to each of us. Many of them are successful at what they’re doing, many are not.
We can learn from both of them if we stop to look.
Once we’ve become aware of the information, examples, and data presented to us, the second skill comes into play: Simply thinking about what we’ve noticed.
We want to be told what is right and what is wrong, what will work and what won’t. We want the best practices, magic bullets, tips, tricks, and strategies to accelerate our ascent to the top.
But those at the top didn’t get there by following hacks. They studied the existing landscape, thought long and hard about it, and started experimenting based on this knowledge.
Applying the tips and strategies can help you make your way into the middle of the pack, but it won’t help you rise beyond it.
But while the rest of the pack is out chasing down and applying the next best prescriptive strategy from the guru of the day, we can choose not to learn those strategies, but seek to understand why they work.
If we can get to a place of understanding, the world will open up to us.
What resonates with us? Why or why not? Breaking down our own thought processes to understand them will give us so much more than a new strategy in our toolbox.
It will give us lasting insight that we can use again and again and again.
We already have everything we need to get started.
Become aware, become a student, then become a scientist.
Every Sunday I publish an exclusive article on my newsletter that hopefully provides a new perspective, encouragement, and maybe even some occasional wisdom.
It’s something I’m proud to create and I’d be honoured to deliver it to you. If you’d like me to share it with you please subscribe here.
Want to hear more about building an audience around work that matters? I think you might enjoy these reads.
https://medium.com/@jeremyenns/simple-secret-better-marketing-56cd30dfb35chttps://medium.com/@jeremyenns/simple-secret-better-marketing-56cd30dfb35c
0 Comments