kestrel

Four Pillars of Success

This is a personal entry related to a video series to which I've subscribed.

In a recent video, this group discuss what they call "The Four Pillars of Success." This is a useful framework. I've quoted from their transcript here:
"An intense desire to succeed, the removal of limiting beliefs, a divine discontent, and a newfound trust in the intuitive side of our being – these are the four pillars of success. And by cultivating these pillars in our life we build the foundations for an escape from mediocrity through the attainment of excellence and uncommon success. "
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AN INTENSE DESIRE TO SUCCEED
I would have gone to school for accounting only if I had been a lover of accounting. I remember when I first went to college (my degree is in theatre), and how I had an intense desire to be a renowned storyteller. I had visions of being in front of an audience, taking them along for a fantastic ride, so close that I could look them in the eye while on stage and they absorbed the performance as part of the audience.

I admit I didn't really know what I was doing, and that I had thought little of my future on stage or screen beyond attaining my college degree. But I knew what I wanted to do while at school. And I'm confident in saying I did very well on stage when I was standing there, in front of an audience. When I was in bands, my college experience and years of performances made those shows even easier.

THE REMOVAL OF LIMITING BELIEFS
I think I struggle with this one on occasion, particularly so when in personal relationships. I very often feel like I'm not worthy of the person I'm seeing, that I will likely fail them in some way, that it's through my negligence that the relationship is doomed to failure. But in other areas of life, I feel like I'm effective at reducing and/or completely erasing limiting beliefs.

I think a mark of removing self-limiting beliefs is when you are curious and always ask, "what if" about a given situation or sphere of life. It is when you always experiment, try something new, and test to make observations. It shows a markedly-reduced sense of fear of the new, and perhaps even fear of failure. You know that failure is only one step towards success, not a permanent setback.

DIVINE DISCONTENT
This is by adopting a mindset of, "Okay, I accomplished that goal. What's next?" Strive for more. Push yourself to even greater heights.

Never settling for the current state of affairs, consistently choosing to not "rest on your laurels," or basically consider a recent accomplishment as your "peak." It's certainly appropriate to celebrate your accomplishments, but do not let your journey stop there. There is more that can be done. Again, these are all driving thoughts of the mindset of one who experiences Divine Discontent.

Personally, I'm curious about how such achievers navigate the change in their physical capabilities over time, or even suddenly/acutely. For me personally, after being hit by a car, my bicycle-riding regiment changed radically, so much so that I ended up moving out of town, beyond bicycling distance to my day job, which further prevented me from riding to work (or re-cultivating the habit of riding in the city in general). I'd also recently read about how the archetypal "Hero's Journey" transitions to the "Mentor's Journey," or rather the Hero's Journey takes on different aspects: that of one who guides a younger, stronger, more physically-able individual on the path of their own Hero's Journey. In other words: when does the Karate Kid end, and Mr. Miyagi begin?

TRUST YOUR INTUITION
"Listen to your gut." Book learning is one thing, but experience teaches us what cannot be learned from books. Beyond that, there are skills one picks up over time, about knowing the "feel" of a quality tool in their hands, how to pick up on body language or tone of voice (also known as "reading people"), gaining fluency in the unspoken vocabulary of the street or a particular subculture, and even other muscle memory routines so that you know a task or practice so well, "you can do it in your sleep."

Your unconscious can pick up on things your typical senses can't, and they'll communicate to the rest of you (whatever -you- is, of course) to help you effectively make decisions.

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It's nice to notice that they quote frequently from Tim Grover's book, _Relentless_, which is currently on my to-do shelf. Grover was a magnificent athletic coach, helping athletes such as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant reach their full potential and success. I should prioritize reading this book, because I think I can learn a lot from it.