What makes you great?

We all have successes and failures. We achieve things that we’d be proud to add to a resume, but we also have times when we wish things had turned out differently. I’ve been reflecting on this. Which of my experiences was truly great and what was it that made it so??

Strangely enough, I realised that the best times weren’t the occasional highs. The best things stemmed from the long hauls – those sequences of small steps which aren’t significant in isolation, but which add up to big gains over time. It was an insight that fuelled more thinking about the meaning of greatness.

My conclusion is that greatness has nothing to do with one-time successes or flashes of excellence. It's about periods of habitual performance. And that’s very liberating. You don’t have to have all the stars aligned or be born with natural talent. You don’t have to be a superior being or have a four-leaf clover in your pocket. You just have to do something we all can: keep at it. Keep taking the small steps,

And there’s another quirk to this greatness business: recognising that you probably aren't already great is the first step toward becoming great. When you commit to a period of sustained effort, you’re on the right path. Dependability and discipline will earn greatness.

That’s the basics, but what about the practical side of things? Are there any shortcuts? Each month, thousands search “how to be great” online, hundreds search “how to become perfect,” and tens of thousands search “how to be the best”. They seek the secrets of success, but there is no magic formula. Success is simply the result of hard work.

So, consider this:

If greatness truly reflects earned effort over time, are you prepared for the work? Are you willing to fight an uphill battle throughout your days, weeks, months, and years? Because that’s what it takes.

If you’re not up for it. That’s fine. No judgement. Understanding your nature will stop you from wondering why you’re not achieving your stated goal. Relax. Do something you want to do and have no regrets. If it’s watching Netflix, and that’s making you happy, it’s all good.

But if you are up for it, what are the things that will help? Let’s dive into that.

Consistency

The media focus is often on outliers – events or people who are different from the norm. We end up thinking that their success is the result of their unconventional behaviour. We assume that we have to be flashy, gain notoriety or go around shaking everything up. But we’re being misled by these “success” stories.

Often, behind the fa?ade, there’s been a huge amount of effort put in. These people aren’t lucky, they’re grafters enjoying the fruits of their labour and their hour in the limelight. Consistency is the most certain and, consequently, the most effective strategy for "success."

Consistency, however, isn’t easy. James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, of whom I’m a big fan, ?quoted something similar. To be clear, consistency isn't always the easiest way to succeed, but it can be done with more certainty than relying on luck or "discovery" to get you there.

Have you ever heard this quote:

"No one who can rise before dawn three hundred sixty days a year fails to make his family rich."

It’s an old Chinese proverb quoted in Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers.

There is another well-known saying from Napoleon Hill that says, "If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way." ?

Or putting it another way, do small things a great number of times.

That’s the real beauty of this route to greatness: you’re not expected to achieve miracles. Just take minor actions and these just need to be completed satisfactorily and consistently. I would advise against focusing on perfection because fear of falling short can stop you in your tracks.

Craving excitement and unpredictability?

Unfortunately, consistency is one of those words that doesn’t excite. That’s a shame because consistency works. Unpredictability gets a lot of attention but being predictably good is much harder and therefore, more impressive. For instance:

It's simple to rise whenever you "feel like it" whereas getting up at six every morning is tough.

It’s simple to switch your focus between the latest shiny new projects, whereas committing years to a side project, which may not be profitable for a long time, takes resolve.

When the next potential partner becomes available, it's easy to give up on someone, whereas being loyal and investing in a relationship for decades is difficult.

Navigating the peaks and troughs

Most of the time, we start out with good intentions. We intend to establish a morning routine, develop a profitable business, or love someone forever. When we invest in something, we imagine that we will naturally continue moving in the right direction. If we drew it as a graph we’d have a lovely rising curve, without a single blip or bump in the road.

#Success rarely looks like that. In any process, the first steps will be harder, we get that, but it's hard to imagine how much harder it might get later. There are always low points alongside the highs. From a distance, this seems obvious, but when we're down, mired in disappointment we often forget about it. Because we can't see the next peak right around the corner, we give up …

Due to a phenomenon known as hedonic adaptation, new successes cause our baseline to shift to a higher level. Our desires and expectations are raised so any low points can feel particularly tough. Being "level-headed" during these low points becomes even more challenging because happiness has no net gain.

This is precisely the reason why a specific search for success can be problematic; rather than seeking unsustainable shortcuts in life, it is much more effective—and healthier—to aim for ongoing habits that bring you success as a by-product rather than the end goal. As James Clear says in #AtomicHabits:

“The only way to become excellent is to be endlessly fascinated by doing the same thing over and over. You have to fall in love with boredom.”

It’s your ability to remain consistent and persevere through challenges that will set you apart. Step by step you’ll be leaving behind those who are only “good” and making your steady progress to “great”.

Embrace the small steps. Be #consistent. Persevere.

You can do it. I wish you luck.

Sim?

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