I’ve heard people say there are plenty of hardworking, intelligent people who still fail to achieve their dreams and because of this, their advice is to be realistic and have a plan B. To a certain extent, I agree. You should definitely have a plan B if that backup plan is also something you really want. However, if falling back on your plan B and achieving it will still leave you feeling empty, forget plan B.
Are there really that many intelligent, hardworking people who fail? First of all, we have to define “intelligent”. Getting a 4.0 in school doesn’t necessarily mean you’re intelligent. Memorizing a bunch of facts and figures doesn’t necessarily mean you’re intelligent either and neither does knowing how to solve a Rubik’s cube (it’s really not that hard).
Here’s my definition of intelligence when it comes to achieving goals:
The ability to quickly figure out what is needed to be successful, what works, what doesn’t work, and being able to efficiently apply and improve upon what works.
What’s Missing?
People who are ambitious and work hard for years and still don’t reach their goals most likely did the wrong things or they did the right things but didn’t stick with it long enough. It could also be because they were missing some crucial pieces to the puzzle. You could have a great product but without a great marketing plan, not enough people are going to know your product even exists. Sometimes, it could just be that you don’t currently know the right people.
You can be a hard, dedicated worker who happens to be working for the wrong company, a company with a culture that promotes people who are in the “in crowd” for example. If you’re trying to get fit, you may be focusing too much on the exercising aspect and not enough on the nutritious food aspect. It could also be that you’re doing all the right things in the right order, but you just hate what you’re doing and therefore, are likely to end up quitting way too soon.
Achieving the Results You’re After
So what can we do to increase our odds of succeeding in whatever it is we’re working on?
Assuming you already know your outcome, the first step is to take action. Being way too concerned about whether you’re doing the right things or not in the beginning can prevent you from ever getting started. The important thing is to take that first step.
From there, measure your results. As you take action, you’re going to get feedback. Compare your results to your ultimate outcome. Are you getting closer or further away? Once you start getting some results, good or bad, you will be in a better position to focus on what needs to be improved. You’ll also have a better sense of what sort of information to look for.
It’s sort of like reading and studying a chapter before it’s discussed in class. Any questions you might have for the teacher will be a lot more focused and efficient compared to going to class and learning everything for the first time. You’ll simply have too many questions that could probably be answered had you taken action and looked into the material beforehand.
What you’re really after in doing all of this measuring is the few crucial things that make the biggest difference.
The Pareto Principle
There’s a well-known concept called the Pareto Principle. In relation to the topic of this article, this principle basically states that of all of the things you can be doing that’s related to producing the outcome that you want, 20% of those things will produce 80% of the results. Another way of putting it is that you could be spending all of your time focusing on the 80% of tasks that only produce 20% of the desired results.
Being intelligent when it comes to achieving goals, in my opinion, is being able to figure what that 20% is. Once you figure that out, the work and time that you put into your goals will be a lot more efficient.
If other people have already achieved the results you want, then they likely focused their energy on the right things. Either find these people and ask them what these things are directly (email, networking, conventions, etc.) or read books that talk about what the right things are. For just about anything you want to achieve, someone wrote a book or an article about it somewhere that explains how to do it. Perhaps there are interviews where you can find out this information as well. You could also take the longer trial and error route and figure it out on your own.
Final Thoughts
As I said, there’s nothing wrong with having a plan B or C through Z for that matter but only have them if those backup plans are also something you truly want to achieve. My belief is, it’s all about what makes you happy. Some people pursue a dream, never reach it, but are still happy because they’re doing what they love on a daily basis. What’s the point of pursuing a goal that doesn’t somehow add to your enjoyment in life if you achieved it?
I understand that in certain cases, things like luck, talent, or having the right parents are involved in the achievement of a goal but most of the people who fail to achieve their goals fail not because of the lack of these things but the lack of correct, consistent action and intense desire. If you’ve failed to achieve your goals, it’s most likely because you didn’t focus on the right things or because you gave up too soon.
The “right things” can vary depending on the goal. In some cases, it could mean getting to know the right people while in other cases it could mean working for the right company or hiring the right people. Whatever those key things are, figure out what it is and apply them.
Bare in mind that the “right things” today may be different than the “right things” 3 or 5 years from now especially in the world of business where things are constantly changing. This is why it’s a good idea to keep up to date with information regarding your industry. Find out what the top people in your field are reading and subscribe to the same magazines.
Success is mostly based on logic. If you do the right things (which can constantly change) for a long enough period of time, you are very likely to succeed.
Until next time…
Love Life. Do Good. Live Well.
I stumbled onto your blog last night after I googled motivational speeches. I needed a distraction to take my mind off of a heart wrenching breakup and content that would empower my self esteem and motivate me to get my priorities and motivation back on myself in a healthy way.
I’ve read them backwards, from the first to this one, and I feel empowered with new ideas, and in a way, I’ve found myself giving myself advice and shaping plans and ideas. It’s helped tremendously and all your posts are insightful, simple to comprehend, and keep me focused and interested in the next topic. Thank you for writing. It helped.
Thanks for commenting, Kieria. I’m glad the stuff I’ve written has helped you and getting comments like yours keeps me inspired to produce more content.
I hope your heart will quickly heal. Breakups are almost never easy but the pain always decreases over time and from what I’ve observed, breakups, although painful at first, will almost always lead to better things.
I read it and definitely agree with you. You’ve clearly expressed what’s stuck on my mind for more than a year. I’ve added your blog on my favorite to get wisdom from you. As you’ve stated, by 20% of efforts (simply reading your wise words) I can get 80% of the results without having to undergo through hardships of life lessons. Thank you so much for the wonderful words here.
Glad you liked the article but reading won’t really do much. Working hard is still the key ingredient in achieving your goals. Just make sure you’re working hard on the right things.
Thanks for the tips, Kevin. I agree that sometimes we give up too quickly or are not doing the right things. Or another possibility is that our goal priorities changed and so we have switched from one goal to the next and so need to adjust our deadlines. It is always smart to have a Plan B but sometimes we don’t even want our Plan B but might have to deal with it until we get back on track.
The Pareto Principle is great but it is sometimes difficult to pinpoint which actions fall into 20% tasks that gave 80% of our results. I am guessing that’s why you mentioned Journaling in other articles but it still means taking time to review our tasks and then link them to various results and sometimes that is not straightforward. However, like you said it means being persistent and finding that book, article or person we can get advice from. Then once we know what the right thing is then we can keep improving it.
You’re right. It’s not always easy to know what the “20%” is. For some things, you just have to observe what the successful people in that field are doing and do what they do.
This piece has really ”Led me to myself.” Many were the things I’ve done wrong, yet expecting to have the right results. I’ve also had a better understanding of the Pareto Principle: ”Find those crucial but missing ingredients you will need to make it complete.”
Thank You.
You’re welcome 🙂
How do you know when you’ve used up all your resources to try to achieve your dreams? How do you know when it’s time to quit and move on to another goal?
Good questions. Depends on what resources you’re talking about. When it’s time or money, that’s pretty clear. When it’s something like perseverance, that’s harder to say since almost all of us greatly underestimates what we’re capable of.
You know it’s time to quit when your excuses are constantly greater than your desire to achieve your goal. Sometimes we find the goal we’re after really isn’t that important to us. It’s really a personal call. If it’s truly important to you and quitting will only make you have regret for the rest of your life, stick with it. At the same time though, sometimes the timing isn’t right and you may need to postpone certain goals until later on and work on something else in the meantime.
As long as you’re constantly working on something that gives you joy and fulfillment whether it’s #1 on your list of goals or #10, then I think you’re headed in the right direction.
your article is good and motivational am actually a student and pursuing a diploma in nursing.i stumbled on your article as i tried to find ways i could beat laziness,because for the past two years i realised that i computing than the course am doing.so am hoping its my plan B just incase this thing with nursing doesn’t work out.Thanx!!
You’re welcome and good luck with your studies.
Am Ugandan and i love to be a Motivational speaker.
i know it all happens when you have examples to show i have been motivated alot.
to keep focus