Nicolas Cole
We are all human. Which means that success and how it is achieved is also largely universal.
What someone learns in one industry is often extremely similar to what someone learns in a completely opposite industry — when reduced down to their simplest habits.
Regardless of what industry you play in, or what your undertaking in life is, the recipe for success will always be the same.
Always.
Yes, the nuances and the specifics will change depending on what it is you’re pursuing — a CEO is going to face different challenges than a music artist, for example — however, there are three primary variables that will always, forever, be required to succeed.
1. Find a community
Nobody succeeds alone.
Every success story involves that person one day finding her “tribe,” her community wherein her skills and talents were finally nurtured. This community ends up playing a massive role in her development. And whether that is a community she discovered elsewhere or created for herself, it is the community that gives her the opportunity to grow with and alongside others.
It allows her to be challenged. It allows her to see what is possible and to continue growing upward.
To become successful, in anything, it is imperative that you find your community.
You will never reach the level of success you desire if you are living in one community but imagining being part of another.
It’s on you to put yourself there.
To get to a place that will nurture your talents, and allow you to become the person you know you can be.
2. Understand the rules of the game
Every industry has its own parameters.
What is acceptable and second nature in one industry may be foreign or even frowned upon in another.
To successfully climb the ladder in front of you, it’s crucial that you first understand how that industry operates. What is appropriate and what isn’t? What pushes buttons and what gets praised? What is considered a risk and what is considered a “quick win”?
Understanding the rules of the game means that you can one day break them.
Once you know how everyone else plays, you can more effectively start to see how you can uniquely play yourself and create your own style.
It’s this personal style that ultimately sets you apart. But before you can get there, you have to learn the basics.
3. Practice the mentality—not “achieving the destination.”
The people who are true masters of their craft do not see their craft as “outside” of them.
It’s not something they do sometimes. It’s something they do all the time — because it’s part of who they are.
Being really good at what you do means integrating your craft into your daily life in as many ways as possible.
It’s not an item on your checklist.
It’s a daily habit as simple as brushing your teeth in the morning.
Until you get to this point of what you desire becoming a foundational pillar in your life, you will never reach the highest levels of success.
It cannot be separate — it has to be part of the bigger picture.
If you look at any great innovator, athlete, musician, artist, entrepreneur, executive, anyone truly successful, these are the three things they have in common. They found their community. They understood the rules of the game — and then they broke them. And they integrated what it is they do so deeply into their lives that hours of practice weren’t even considered hours of practice.
They simply couldn’t have lived without it.
Combine these three root habits, and you too will reach the highest levels of success.
Ladders
