Success Model Part 2: Knowledge

So you’ve read Part One of this series, as well as my soapbox sermon on losers. You’ve done your homework, and you’re all fired up now, right? Well if not, rewind and get it done. If so, you’re ready to continue your climb!

The Importance of Knowledge

It is better to be unborn than untaught: for ignorance is the root of misfortune. -Plato

Meet your new best friend: Amazon! The importance of knowledge to your success cant be understated. With knowledge, you can foresee problems, recognize and create opportunities, and add value to the lives of others. Without knowledge, you cannot advance. When I talk about knowledge, I mean the kinds of knowledge that are directly or indirectly applicable to your field. This includes people, places, trends, and practices along with “core knowledge” or subject-direct knowledge. From here on out, the only way that you can continue your progress is by continuously acquiring,applying, verifying, and updating your knowledge in what I call…

The Knowledge Cycle

Acquire

You must acquire the kind of knowledge that is useful and applicable to your field of endeavor. For instance, if you wish to become a lawyer, then you would need to know how to write correspondence, general knowledge of all areas of law, and specific knowledge as far as your field of practice is concerned. Generally speaking, it doesnt help an entertainer to know how to assemble an engine any more than it helps a lawyer to know how to fly a plane, but dont pass up the chance to gain familiarity with anything that has anything to do with your field of pursuit. As you dig through piles of research papers and gigs of data, you may feel overwhelmed at the amount of information at your hands; dont pressure yourself to become an overnight expert! Expertise is developed over many years. At this point in the game, you are aiming for familiarity.Remember that picture of the road to success city in Part 1 of this series? Think of every little bit of knowledge that you gain as fuel that will get you further down that road.

There’s no better source of knowledge available to you than the people that are in the position that you want to be in, so don’t limit yourself to books and text online for the bulk of your knowledge. Proverbs says “A single conversation across the table with a wise man is better than ten years study of books”, and that wisdom still holds true today.  With some maneuvering and networking, you can align yourself with people that can open doors for you faster than a college degree or an entire library worth of information can.

Apply and Verify

Its not so much what you know as what you can do with what you know that matters here. There is an old Chinese proverb that goes like this: “To know and not to do is to not yet know”

“Arthur, wtf is that supposed to mean?” Glad you asked! Simply put, it means that if you think you know something, but have never done it, you dont know shit. It is easy to go through courses or read books on a subject, but until you actually put that information into action, your knowledge is missing a critical dimension. Dont confuse studying with progress! The only thing that facilitates progress is action! You are not in the business of collecting information.

Verifying the truth of the knowledge that you have gained is easy, and necessary, since some of your sources wont be as good as others.

Update

Updating your knowledge is absolutely critical. If you are entering a field that is full of competitors, he who has the most up to date information will lead. Stay up to date on changes in your industry by reading magazines, newspapers, and trade publications, and using online tools like twitter and Google trends.

Homework

In part one of this series, you wrote down goals in specific areas of your life. Now you must acquire the knowledge that is relevant to those goals. Go to LinkedIn and participate in discussions, use Myspace to network with pros instead of hoes, and use the power of the internet to facilitate your knowledge cycle.

A No Shit Success Model: Follow or Fail (like I did!)

Part 1
by Arthur Pledger

This is the first of a 5 part series that will cover each element of this Success Model. The components of success pyramid is the result of studying my personal success as well as the success of countless other individuals. With this model, you will be able to replicate successful results in every endeavor that you choose to undertake.

Lack of Talent is No Excuse!

Notice I did not include “talent” as part of my success model. That’s because many of the things that I have mastered in my life weren’t the result of a talent that I possessed beforehand, but came only after I motivated myself acquire the knowledge that would lead to mastery.

I was once employed by a sales company where I was told by my evaluators that I should be performing so much better than the mediocre results I dragged in. Meanwhile, idividuals who seemed to lack my natural abilities of public speaking and charisma seemed to thrive. Watching this dynamic in action, it dawned on me: Greatness isnt automatically granted to a person just because they are talented. Greatness is a choice.

Fortune Magazine produced an article entitled What It Takes to Be Great:

“you do not possess a natural gift for a certain job, because targeted natural gifts don’t exist. You are not a born CEO or investor or chess grandmaster. You will achieve greatness only through an enormous amount of hard work over many years. And not just any hard work, but work of a particular type that’s demanding and painful.”

“Elite performers in many diverse domains have been found to practice, on the average, roughly the same amount every day, including weekends.” – What it Takes to be Great

Motivation is the foundation of any successful venture. Without the drive to reach the pinnacle of excellence, you will fall far short of the investment needed to make your goal a reality.

Its not enough to simply say “I will be great”, you must define very specifically what you will be great at. For instance, if you want to become a world class basketball player, you first must identify the areas that you need to be great at specifically (free throws, dribbling, rebounding, etc). Once you have identified these specific areas, you must be able to measure your progress numerically (99+% lay-ups, 70+% free-throws, 50+% field goals, 33+% 3-pointers). Once you begin to improve (from making 30% of all your shots one day to making 50% the next), the positive feedback that you will receive from your small victory will motivate you to keep going. Fear of losing progress will get you out of bed and into the gym at 5am. This example applies to every field of endeavor, be it losing weight, improving your credit, or writing a blog.

We all have days when we need an extra push to get up and get going. So what can you do to motivate yourself? Some of these great suggestions that have worked for me

1. Keep a progress chart – You will be able to see how far you’ve come, and how far you have to go. The act of filling in your chart alone will motivate you towards continuing your progress
2. Watch a movie clip – The hardest thing about going to the gym is going to the gym (because once you’re in there, the atmosphere will get you in gear). On days when I am finding it hard to get up and get into the gym, I watch the training montage from Rocky 4 on youtube. Or when I dont feel like hitting the phones and making sales, Glenngary, Glenn Ross does the trick
3. Keep an album – Full of images clipped from magazines or newspaper articles. Whatever reminds you of your mission or motivates you. Flip through your album whenever you find yourself lacking the motivation to get off your ass!

Your Homework:

1.On a piece of paper, identify an area that you wish to become great in. Break down all the individual elements that greatness in that area is made up of and attach a measurable number to those elements.

Example: I will reach a position of financial excellence by paying down $5000 in debt, increasing my credit score to 750, and buying a home that I will live in for at least 10 years.

2. Start work on your album. Grab a copy of the latest Robb Report, and use that as a primer. You know why they publish magazines like Robb Report? Because somebody is rich enough to buy the things in that magazine, is why! Why not you?