Editor’s note: This article was first published in April 2013. Charles Eugster was 93 when the article was written; he died in 2017. The closing section’s reference to the current crisis and lack of jobs pushing people into entrepreneurship describes Spain’s economic crisis in 2013.
Aristotle said 2,000 years ago that “we are what we repeatedly do.”
For most of our adult lives, we accept the myth, or belief, that some people are born with special talents and gifts, to the point of thinking that the potential to excel at any activity is largely predetermined by genetics.
There are guides based on the science of high performance, aimed mainly at athletes, for physical, emotional, mental and even spiritual development. The world’s best coaches in every sport work from the principle that any given skill or ability can be built in the same systematic way we train our muscles: all it takes is considerable effort beyond our comfort zone, followed by rest so the muscle can take the desired shape.
That’s why, if we take Aristotle’s saying (we are what we repeatedly do) and apply it to any area of our lives (sport, business, skills, abilities…), we can achieve anything we set out to do.
Here are 5 keys to achieving excellence at something, all of which apply to business.
1. Let go of emotional obstacles and other people’s objections
The first step is to let go of your own emotional obstacles and, above all, not to listen to the obstacles other people put in your way. You can achieve anything you set out to do. Just ask Charles Eugster, who at 93 does bodybuilding and says he’s living a second youth. What’s more, he says he has more energy than he did at 50. I imagine plenty of people told him he was crazy and that it couldn’t be done at his age.
Some researchers are starting to put a definition on what we call talent: more than 10,000 hours of practice developing whatever skill we want. If you want to be truly excellent at something, commit to it and prepare yourself mentally for frustration, setbacks and failures. That way, the reward will come.
2. Do the hardest work first
Our instincts always push us to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Most successful people agree that you should focus on the hardest tasks first and get them out of the way as soon as possible. If you have two tasks to do, one that will take a lot of effort and another you’re more used to, use your energy and vitality to tackle the hard one. Apply this idea to whatever area you like.
3. Seek feedback from experts, but intermittently
Never stop learning, getting advice, reading and so on, but remember that, to follow the muscle analogy, a muscle needs rest in order to grow. Without rest it wouldn’t gain size, and the same goes for us. Too much information also causes anxiety and cognitive overload and makes learning harder. For example, many people want to learn about stock market investing as fast as possible. They’re smart and learn quickly, but they overload themselves with so much information that they end up mixing up concepts. You have to lay the foundations of knowledge first, and then build a solid structure on top of them.
4. Ritualize practice (discipline)
If a person isn’t disciplined, they’ll rarely succeed at anything. An athlete needs discipline in training, diet and sleep. A business owner or executive needs exactly the same, and so does anyone who has set out to be good at something: they’ll have to be disciplined to get there.
5. And what about passion?
At the risk of repeating ourselves, it will always, without a doubt, be much easier for you to be good, and even one of the best, at an activity you’re passionate about. If I had to define the secret of success, I’d say it’s 50% passion and 50% practice, discipline and perseverance.
That’s why, even though we know the current crisis and the lack of jobs are pushing many people to start businesses without being prepared for it, the truth is that if starting a business is your only way out, you’ll have to learn how to be an entrepreneur and everything about the world of business. Within entrepreneurship, look for an activity you feel comfortable with, where you can make use of your skills and that you’re passionate about. Along the way you’ll run into obstacles and suffer many setbacks, and you may even fail several times, but all of that is part of the process and will give you the experience to reach your goals in whatever you set out to do.
Further reading
Featured image: George Goodwin Kilburne, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
