success is rarely a clean, straight-ahead, sensible, care-free, meant-to-be kind of endeavor. it’s a mess. if you’re romanticizing success to be something of a fairy tale, then think again. i know. a crisply-tailored pinstripe suit is oh so alluring. many of those knights are wearing someone else’s polished armor — not something they fashioned for battle. they’re following a program. the polish is there for show, to scare off lesser competitors from a battle. ah, but the real progress isn’t made until you’re knocked off the horse and find yourself tussling on the ground.
if you think success is drawn to certain types of people before others — like those with established track records and rock-solid business plans — again, it’s time to reconsider. sure, it can be like that. more often than not, however, it produces a nonsensical popcorn trail that generates serious laughs and plenty of folklore later. it falls to freakish luck or happenstance as much as it aligns with careful design. people stumble upon it, including those who seemingly should have no shot at or claim to it. it’s not totally by chance, though — it seems to be attracted to those who roll up sleeves and aren’t afraid of getting dirty, failing, looking the fool, learning through mistakes, etc. it’s not vain or sanitary.
so what is the ultimate take away? be open to what you least suspect has the makings of success. those who have flubbed and succeeded will swear by fortuitous accidents, receptors, availability, flexibility, intuition, plugging away, and more. you get the gist.
