So much has been written about success that you’d think everyone who wanted to be successful would be. However, much of what has been said is superficial and won’t help very much. Won’t help the reader, that is. I’m reasonably sure it helps the writers.
The problem, however, isn’t with the writers. They write what the audience wants. And a very large segment of the audience isn’t looking for the truth, but for a secret. A Google search of “the secret of success” returned 53,300,000 results.
I believe a great many people actually think that there is such a secret and that if they find it, they too will be successful. Unfortunately, they would be disappointed to find that, while not a secret, a large component of success is hard work. Not just any hard work, but hard work in the right areas.
For a portion of my career, I worked for one of the most successful life insurance agents in the county. He employed a staff of six and earned an income on par with many CEOs. Oh, and he worked extremely hard.
He usually got to the office by 7 a.m. and immediately got on the phone. While he left a lot of voice mails, I was surprised at the number of people he actually reached. It seems that many successful people start their day early.
He rarely left the office before 5 p.m. unless it was to coach his son’s Little League team. I received an email time stamped 9:30 p.m. on a Saturday night that I didn’t see until Monday morning. When I asked him if he expected me to deal with it on Saturday evening he responded of course not, but he was out to dinner when the thought occurred to him and he just didn’t want to forget it.
But people don’t want to hear that. They want The Four Hour Work Week and 6 minute abs. They want to Get Rich Quick and Lose Weight Without Dieting or Working Out when in reality, success invariably requires Deep Work.
And of course politicians on both sides of the aisle have learned to avoid the truth at all costs. Platitudes such as “Hope and Change” and “Make America Great Again” sound so much better than discussing the reality of the situation.
This concept also applies to life insurance. How much easier it is to just buy the term insurance even though the whole life is needed to accomplish the stated objectives.
So while Nicholson’s quote seems to apply to the majority, those truly interested in attaining success will accept the truth of the matter and do the work that is required.