Nuts & Volts - February 2004

In The Trenches

student without one.) Your cost is usually measured in work, risk, money, and sacrifice. Being an "A" student costs mostly work. You spend time on a lot of all-nighters to ace those exams. Being a poet, musician, or writer is risky. Your success depends on others appreciating your work. Money is often a component in success. It costs more to get into a major university than a community college.

Obviously, you'll have a better chance at success with a business degree from Yale than from Whatsamatta U. Sacrifice is a generic term. This refers to the intangible things you have to give up to pursue a goal, for example, less time with family and friends, a small TV instead of a big plasma screen on your wall, or, often, ridicule. This is because successful people tend to be independent, driven, and self-confident. This can be seen by others as

unconventional, narrow-minded, and arrogant.

Psychology of Success and Failure

From my experience, there are two types of successful people. The first I call "gifted". These are people who have been marked as being successful from an early point in their life. They've always been supported by their parents, teachers, professors, coaches, etc. They are expected to always do well by themselves and with others. They go to special schools, have special classes, and are treated in a preferential way. They never fail.

I say "never" because, if they do fail at something significant, they tend to have a very hard time with it. Failure is not something they understand. They are hurt, angered, and bewildered by failure. Sometimes

they never recover from a single big failure. I'm sure you've heard an announcer say, "If they pull that young quarterback now, he'll never get his confidence back." These people tend to have a strong but brittle ego. Like Humpty Dumpty, once it's broken, it's hard to put it back together.

The other successful type I call "relentless". These are self-driven people who have had no support group. These people tend to be extremely self-reliant and self-confident. They view failure as a challenge. They use failure as a learning tool. These people just never stop. The old saying "Nine times down and ten times up," is their motto. Or perhaps, "Never make the same mistake twice."