One way to be successful is to do what successful people do. But be careful if you ask them for help. People often don't know why they are successful, but they will tell you as many reasons as you want. On the news one night, a man who was 100 years old said that smoking a big cigar every day was one of the things that helped him live so long. It would be interesting to know why he's lived so long, but I'm pretty sure we won't find out if we ask him.
The key to success is to look at what successful people do.
So, one key is not to do what successful people say to do, but to do what they do. Here's how to learn how to do well. To figure out what they are really doing that makes them successful, you have to look closely and use your brain.
A successful investor in real estate told me that he didn't believe in goals. But as I watched and listened to him, I realised that he knew exactly where he wanted his projects to be in six months. This is, of course, setting goals. He just called the process by a different name.
Don't stop listening to what successful people have to say, but try to figure out what they're really trying to say. Listen to get a sense of how they think about things and how they deal with problems. Let's say a successful basketball player tells you to just practise more, but after a great shot, he says, "I saw that going in." Shouldn't you start picturing your shots going in?
The key to success is to look at what successful people do.
You can't always tell what makes someone successful. Internet marketers use links to promote their websites. When I first tried to trade links with other sites, the owners didn't answer my emails. Then I found a simple email letter that a successful Internet marketer used to get links. I thought it was silly and wanted to change it, but I did it anyway. It worked every time.
Doing the right things is more important than knowing why they are right. It's great to also understand, but at first it might be best to just copy many of the actions, attitudes, and approaches of someone who is doing well. Even if you don't know what success is, try to act like it.
As you learn more, you can get rid of the parts that don't help and add your own. If you act like a good parent, for example, and things get better with your kids, does it matter if you don't know right away which changes helped the most? Of course not.
Is it more important to know why what you are doing works? Certainly, but it's okay if you never figure out why some things work. It's better to be successful than to try to explain it, so find people who are already successful and do what they do, not what they say. It is a key part of being successful.
