Success is not instant

Have you ever heard the testimonies of people who have attained “success” in life? Their testimonies usually begin with how they started out poor or how they were initially diagnosed with a terminal illness. Then their stories would go on to say how they discovered a wonderful product and started taking it, making the cancer disappear. So they started selling the product and making a lot of money – enough to buy a car and a house, and to travel the world! They would then end with the promise that, “You too can have all of those wonderful things the same way I did!” To which the entire hall would resound with a thunderous applause, and people would give a standing ovation and let out yells of victory. I’ve actually sat through one presentation where the speaker challenged the audience to follow his “principles” and expect to be able to buy a luxury car within two weeks’ time.

If you could peek into the minds of those people in the audience of those speakers, I bet you’d see this going on: the people see their own impoverished situation, then they see the products and the money coming in as they sell the products, and then they’d see themselves having lots of money, owning their own house, driving their own car, traveling the world, and standing in front of a huge adoring crowd sharing their own testimony. So it’s probably a downer to have me speak right after such “power speeches.” Because I say that, while there’s instant noodles and instant coffee and instant milk, there’s no such thing as instant success – even winning the prize purse of the national lottery; that kind of success isn’t sustainable. I throw water on their vision of quick success and douse the flames of their enthusiasm.

Success is a very heavy responsibility to bear, and attaining true success requires a process. A huge inheritance from a wealthy relative may provide you with instant wealth, but you’d need the right attitude and skills to manage and sustain it, and become truly successful. Those skills and attitude don’t come from the success per se; it comes from the process of pursuing and attaining the success.

This idea applies to the workplace as well. We look at power-suit-wearing executives and envy their success, and we try to look for ways to achieve the same status in the shortest possible time. But we cannot microwave success, because true and lasting success is a crock-pot process.

These are lessons I’ve learned over time. I hope these ideas would help you find your own path to true success – success that’s sustainable and lasting:

1. DON’T IGNORE THE CHALLENGES.

We see a picture of success when we see people who “have made it.” What we don’t see are the challenges they had to face and endure to achieve their goals. If you get up close and personal to those who have “arrived,” you’ll be amazed at their level of toil, work intensity, determination, perseverance, tenacity, risk-taking and stubbornness in sticking to their goals.

2. LEARN TO LOVE AND IMPROVE THE PROCESS.

Most people are unhappy in their jobs because the only things they look forward to are the pays, the bonuses and the vacation leaves their salary can afford them. They just cruise in their competence; they don’t invest in continuous education and training to improve how they work, and they don’t fix their eyes on a higher goal. Such an attitude is conducive to opting for shortcuts to the top – the fastest way with the least amount of effort. It may even encourage you to trample on others, to manipulate and to commit unethical practices just to “arrive.” Forget shortcuts. Focus on continuously learning, and improving yourself and the way you work. Love the process of attaining success.

3. CONSTANTLY REMIND YOURSELF THAT WHAT YOU BECOME IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT YOU HAVE DONE.

A promotion is a medal. A position is a trophy. You may have both the promotion and the position, but do you really have the character and competence for them? Will people respect you because of what you have done or attained? Would you be able to look at yourself in the mirror and honestly say, “I’m now a better person” or “My family will be proud of me”? Don’t confuse medals and trophies with character and competence. Don’t confuse medals and trophies for impact.

Have the money you’ve made and the position you occupy made you a BETTER person or a BITTER one? Has your success journey brought out the BEST in you, or did it simply bring out the BEAST in you? A great disservice to one’s self is believing that the end justifies the means. Remember, there’ll always be a day of reckoning, when all of us would either pay for the choices we’ve made or enjoy the rewards of our contributions.

At the end of the day, the process is more important than the success!

(Develop your leadership skills and life skills by spending two whole days with Francis Kong on November 21-22 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. Call Inspire at 09158055910, or 632-6310912 for details. Connect with Francis via his Facebook page – www.facebook.com/franciskong2.)