We would all like to be successful in our work, however we define that. We have all listened to pundits who offer the 10 or 12 rules for success. I heard these factors in a radio interview from THE most famous Canadian director being asked to explain his success on the CBC one morning. I was driving and I had to pull over to the side of the road and write them down. He wasn’t selling anything, sounded like he knew what he was talking about, and he was in fact successful in a very competitive field where so many others failed. (My comments in parenthesis):
1 – TIMING (Methodically follow the news in your line of endeavour)
2 – LUCK (Try often and keep your skills honed to take advantage when opportunity knocks)
3 – WHO YOU KNOW (Build a good network – or marry one (; )
4 – PERSERVERANCE (Identify and remedy frustrations)
5 – TALENT (Have some, by all means. But remember a very famous artist theorized that talent is an invention of people who want an excuse not to work hard – as in “She just has magic talent, so it’s pointless for me to even try”. Polish your skill until it is indistinguishable from ‘talent’.)