A client once paid to pick my brain for a while, and we talked about the various opportunities and challenges he was facing. At the end of the call, it was apparent to me that nearly every best practice I described to him revolved around a single word: persistence.
Many of my social media successes came after relentless tinkering on my part. A post came out, and did only okay—which frustrated me—so I changed it once, twice, three times, four times, and five times.
Then, finally: “instant” success.
No matter what your goal, if you only have the energy for two or three attempts, don’t even bother.
Success requires hundreds, or even thousands, of attempts.
It requires constant learning and incessant refinement.
But you know all this…or at least most of you do. Here’s the part people miss.
It’s not enough to be persistent. You also have to be present.
After you try and fail, you have to be fully aware of what happened.
And, after you finally enjoy some success, you have to be fully aware of what happened.
Paying attention is the secret ingredient of successful people. Listen, learn, watch...then ponder. Be quiet long enough to allow your brain to make connections between pieces of information that do not appear to be connected.