Entry One: The Semester's Four Success Traits
This semester, my English class was centered around success. As a class, we broke down author and analyst, Richard St. John's "8 Secrets to Success" and focused on four traits that would help us succeed in the future: Focus, Work, Practice, and Persistence. Let's break down the traits and talk about what others have said about them in conjunction with success so you can better understand what I'll be talking about in my other entries.
Focus: This trait is a piece of cake for some and the most difficult task for others. We all know the phrase, "Jack of all trades, master of none.." In St. John's video, "The Importance of Focus," he shares how Focus is key to success in anything you do. You can't be the best at something if you're dabbling in five things at the same time ("Importance of Focus"). The idea is to laser fix all one's efforts on the goal of success to minimize distractions and optimize productivity. For those who have a hard time doing this, successful writer, Stephen King, suggests creating a space with no phone, no TV, curtains drawn, etc ("Importance of Focus"). Eliminate distractions. At its core, Focus is choosing one thing and becoming an expert on it, whether that's painting a landscape or building a house.
Work: This trait tends to make most people a little nervous...I mean, not very many people love what they do, because, well, it's Work. They wonder, "Will all my hard Work pay off?" or "Will I enjoy working or dread it?" When we think about performing continuous or repetitive tasks and the effort it takes to sustain our dedication to said tasks, we often find that to effect change or reach a desired result, we must make a commitment to our future success. The Senior Editor for TWICE Magazine, Grant Morgan, says that you need to love what you do to truly succeed (Morgan), and St. John says that Work can be fun and people who find themselves enjoying their job find success the easiest and get paid while doing it ("8 Secrets"). Others, like blogger Luvvie Ajayi, didn't believe in working too hard if it stressed her out - that negativity drained her efforts and took away from a true feeling of success. Ajayi even dropped out of her med classes when she realized that her efforts wouldn't result in a favorable outcome (Ajayi).
Practice: "Practice makes perfect," goes the old adage. While repetition is well-known to produce desired results in all aspects of life, it's most effective when we dedicate ourselves to it with purposefulness. Before becoming an accomplished children's author, Suzanne Slade practiced the craft of writing for eight long years before she finally published her first book. She took writing classes and attended conferences all while considering the positive criticism of her peers. Speaker and author, Eduardo Briceño, offers great insight into what Dr. Anders Ericsson calls "deliberate practice." We concentrate on the component skills we want to improve and then solicit consistent feedback with repetition and adjustments as we gradually refine the skill. Briceño also emphasizes the importance of creating a low-stakes environment that allows you to learn from your mistakes as you tweak and hone your craft (Briceño). A safe space with a mentor or away from distractions allows us to learn from our mistakes without adverse effects and teaches our brains that mistakes are part of growth. Maintaining a growth mindset through practice leads to certain success.
Persistence: When defining this trait, we often think of those who don't know when to give up. It's a quality of doggedness that doesn't keep score of failures or see time as the enemy. It sees failure as an opportunity to keep working towards that eventual goal of success. Politician Mike Moncrief says, "Only a strong will, guts, hard work, determination, and perseverance make the difference between success and failure," and that the most successful people are willing to keep trying till they reach their goals (Moncrief). As mentioned above, Suzanne Slade was committed to becoming an author of children's books and didn't let the eighty rejection letters deter her (Slade). Coupled with what my mom calls grit, Persistence can reap the rewards of Focus, Work, and Practice and lead one to success.
Now that you have an idea of the traits, follow along to read more about my experiences in the semester and what these traits looked like for me.
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