Most of us feel a wide range of mixed emotions when faced with a person who has achieved success. This is because success is never guaranteed in life, and takes a great deal of hard work. There are many common misconceptions surrounding the idea of success, and many of us believe that our chances of achieving it rely on certain pre-existing conditions, such as the amount of money we have, or the type of family we grew up in.
The fact that we come from a good family, for instance, is not in itself a guarantee that we will be successful, and many people who have achieved success in life came from humble backgrounds. According to the author, wealth does not automatically lead to success either, and it does not help us achieve our goals any more than poverty may hold us back.
The probability of us achieving success, however, does rely on our outlook on life and on our capacity to seize opportunities when they arise. Some people are naturally able to see the potential opportunity in any situation, while others have to work to develop this mindset.
Our qualities, skills, and capabilities determine the course of our life and the level of success we are able to achieve. Many people have reached unimaginably ambitious goals simply because of their strength of character, such as psychologist Viktor Frankl, who survived the Nazi concentration camps to become an international writer.
There is a common misconception that success and failure are polar opposites, as if the two were completely separate, parallel concepts that never meet. According to the author, however, failure is actually a key step that we must face, in order to achieve success. He maintains that we need to change our perception and response to failure, and that we can all achieve success by developing four specific characteristics, summarised in the acronym REAL: Relationships, Equipping, Attitude, and Leadership.
Relationships refer to all of our social interactions. These are crucial to achieving success, because we cannot achieve our goals on our own. With the help of other people, on the other hand, we can achieve whatever we put our minds to.
The author uses the term ‘equipping’ to describe the process of building our own personal support team, and emphasises the importance of having people around us who we can trust, and who push us to make our ideas a success. With the support of a good team, anything is possible.
Attitude is another key aspect in achieving success, and describes the way we approach life and the world around us.
Leadership focuses on our capacity to lead and to be followed. Although many people struggle with leadership, the author says that this is not an innate skill, and that it can be developed and cultivated.
It is important to remember that failure is part of success, and in many cases, a necessary stepping stone to achieving our objectives.
