I’ve got good news and bad news for all you success-hounds out there.
Of my principal observations, one of the most prevalent is that if you’re going to make something of yourself in this life you’d better be prepared to work hard at it. Really hard.
As a case in point, allow me to direct you towards award winning producer, writer and actor Mary Alexandra Stiefvater. I asked her how much of her time she gave to her passions. Her reply?
“Minus the time necessary to sleep? All of it. Even when I’m doing other things a portion of my brain is working on a script or creating a poem or choreographing a dance.”
As I may have mentioned before, you’re not going to win the lottery, fame and fortune is not going to come knocking, so forget about that. You need to go out and grab success by the lapels and haul it kicking and screaming to your door. And yes, that is going to take some serious commitment.
Forget about regular sleep patterns, allotted down time, weekend kick-backs.
I know: you’re thinking, “This is supposed to be a study of success, stop bringing us down!”
It’s probably about time we moved onto the good news.
If you look at the people who’ve made it, the ones who have pursued their dreams and actually got somewhere, you’ll notice a streak of something flowing through the mad whirlwind of their lives: contentment.
Let me tell you a brief (don’t worry, it’s really short) story about a holiday I spent in beautiful Corfu a few years ago.
We were in our regular restaurant one evening by the warm waters of Agni Bay, enjoying the host’s show of Greek dancing, a bit of plate smashing, and general engagement of the patrons. It was just an intimate thing for the establishment’s hundred or so diners that Perikles would put on twice a week during the summer season.
One thing he said I will always remember: “I’m never tired.”
Let me tell you, like most restaurateurs, Perikles is up at the crack of dawn, working all day, entertaining the diners till late at night. He’s been doing the same thing for twenty years or more as far I know.
So how come he’s never tired? And how is it that he’s always smiling, even when he’s not working front of house?
The fact is that people who choose to embark on a life less ordinary do it through compulsion. For certain, there are those of us who keep trying things on a whim – and those efforts are almost always in vain – but the ones who just can’t get an idea out of their heads; they’re the kind who pursue it with the bit between their teeth, relentlessly.
So what does that mean to you? How is that good news?
The thing is, if like me you’ve had experience of slaving away in an office for the paymasters, the concept of hard work and long hours just means less time doing the things you love. And if you harbour ambitions for something a little more rewarding it’s even worse! More time at the office means less time to chase your real goals. It’s exhausting in its frustration alone. “Hard work” becomes a concept to dread, something that starves you of the very lifeblood which ought to be making you – well, you.
But if you’re just about to make the break and truly go after something, fear not: that hard work you’ve know before as an enemy has the capacity to metamorphose – from the hairy caterpillar of labour to the butterfly of fulfilment. None of my guests has given any indication that they don’t enjoy the efforts they are required to put in. I suspect they get to the end of their day not knowing where it went, and yes they collapse in bed exhausted (I reckon even Perikles sleeps soundly once his head hits the pillow) but I bet more often than not, when they drift off to sleep, it’s with a smile of contentment on their face.
Don’t fear hard work: as far as I can tell, once you take the first step you won’t even realise you’re doing it.
Next time: Raising the bar – why it’s important to keep setting new goals.