Stop Copying Successful People – Do This Instead
Just because successful people reach the peak it doesn’t mean they know the best way up. Or how to get back down. Or what the mountain is for.
Successful people blind us with want.
We assume success means wisdom. We think money equals insight. We believe fame proves virtue. Lies one and all.
Fools become influencers because we believe success equals universal competence.
Before You Copy Successful People:
#1. What aren’t they telling you?
Behind every success is an avalanche of failures, compromises, and sunk costs. What’s hidden matters more than what’s displayed.
#2. Do you want their life or their results?
Success doesn’t arrive like magic. It comes from lifestyle choices. I might want an Olympic gold medal. I’m not willing to choose a life that might get one.
#3. Would you copy them if they weren’t famous?
Strip away the status. Do their character and choices earn your respect? Fame distorts judgment.
Success overwhelms perception. Wisdom whispers. Listen carefully.
Choose Wisdom:
Wisdom thrives regardless of circumstances.
Don’t copy success—gain wisdom. Nothing compares to wisdom. The one who gains wisdom acquires the key to success.
5 ways to choose wisdom:
- Don’t confuse wealth with worth.
- Notice what people do. Behavior reveals values.
- Listen deeply. Fools chatter like monkeys and listen like chipmunks.
- Like people. I notice wisdom tends to love the world.
- Practice gentle rigidity. Wisdom is kind even when doing hard things.
Read: The Fools Guide to Wisdom
Aspire to wisdom, not applause. Admire character, not clout. Pursue growth, not glamour.
“Illumination of the intellect, together with charity inflaming the heart, constitute the gift of wisdom.” H. E. Manning
What should we learn from successful people?
Resources:
Arrival Fallacy: Will Reaching a Goal Make You Happy?
A thought-provoking post! Successful people are our role models in terms of achieving certain business position, respect as they carry and wealth that they enjoy. We usually follow their advice and try to practice their behaviour. However, we fail to know how they acquired and developed their key strengths and solution based skills to handle difficult time & situations.
Wisdom lies in their constant efforts to learn new things and keeping updated in understanding future industry trends & growth plans. Right decisions at right/ahead of time together with recruiting and building a trusted team for planned execution are some of the ways to lead success. Money follows with every good success and leaders multiply their confidence in trying new things by investing adequate time and focus as part of their daily life.
Good to see you today, Dr. Asher. We might learn more about succeeding if we knew more about the stories of successful people. What’s interesting is their stories are so different. Yet, we see some commonalities.
Some important commonalities include, resilience, the help of someone who believed in them, and a good amount of believing in something.
This is such a beautiful (and accurate) perspective about copying successful people. This quote “Aspire to wisdom, not applause. Admire character, not clout. Pursue growth, not glamour.” – Many times if you do the former you and will get the latter, but even if you don’t receive the latter, you’re still of greater worth and better positioned to be a blessing to others around you. Thanks for the blog, Dan.
Lance
Thanks, Lance.., Powerful observation. Perhaps if we aspire to wisdom, the need for applause, clout, and glamour won’t be that important.
While I appreciate your perspective very much, the first step is defining success. What that means to one might be altogether different for another.
You’re exactly right, DJ. Define the win before you begin. Lack of definition is one reason we blindly follow successful people.