This morning I was thinking of my many failures and my few successes. While I may have an idea of the reason for any failure, I honestly don't know how I achieved what I achieved. And I know I don't because when I tried to replicate some of those successes, I failed.
Sure, I know a few things that work for me and many others that don't.
I always found it easier to analyse and understand failures.
And this reminded me of this post I wrote way back, in July 2017, on why doing what successful people do most likely won't give you the same results.
One Apple A Day #117
“Why are people who write about millionaire habits not millionaires?” — https://medium.com/thought-pills/why-are-people-who-write-about-millionaire-habits-not-millionaires-32a10843a592
This is one of the best titles I have seen on Medium so far. I have had a similar question in my head for months.
“If having the same habits of Richard Branson is enough to achieve the same results, why he is the only one who owns an island in the Caribbean?”
These books are undoubtedly attractive. I think it is helpful to read about the healthy habits, strategies, methodologies and models of those who achieved remarkable results in life and business. But we must be aware that whatever we learn won’t guarantee any success. First of all, learning is useless if we don’t take action. But even if you act and apply the same strategies, habits and models, it is highly improbable that you will achieve the same results.
“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
The Anna Karenina principle perfectly explains why doing the same things of a successful person won’t transform you into a samely successful person.
There are too many things that need to go into the right place to succeed that it’s almost impossible to do it. And the ones who achieve outstanding results don’t know how they did it. They know only a part of it, the part they share.
It’s good to read about their stories but being aware that you are not the same person; you don’t live and operate in the same context (period and environment).
If you are aware of your uniqueness, it’s useful to read about successful people because you will be able to analyse, adapt and integrate the things that work for you.
Note 1: I made a few language tweaks to the post. It’s nice to see that practice is making my writing a little better.
Note 2: The Anna Karenina principle, based on the opening sentence of the eponymous novel by Tolstoy, states that “a deficiency in any one of a number of factors dooms an endeavour to failure”. That is why imitating successful people is not enough to transform you into one like them. There are so many different factors and things that must go into the right place that makes it almost impossible to succeed.