3 Keys to Success

Those who still remember the use of transistor radios can easily see that there were two absolute necessities to listen to your favorite channels.  The first one was to have the power supply either as electricity or from the batteries. In case you do not have it, no matter how sophisticated and elite your transistor was you could never listen to it. Secondly in order to listen to your favorite channel you needed to be at the same frequency as of that specific channel. There were dozens of channels transmitting their programs but one could listen to his/her choice only if the transistor radio was also set at the same frequency.

In case of personal success or success in career the same two rules are valid. First of all you need to have the ‘power supply’ i.e. your skill and energy. In case you do not have necessary skills or develop them in time you’ll not be able to jump on the opportunities lying in front of you. You need to foresee the future demand and develop your skills accordingly, but in time. Once you have the skills or power supply the next move should be to adjust your frequency to the frequency of success. We may find many people around us who are quite successfull in spite of having skills of lesser degree than many unfortunates. They in fact found the frequency of success and tuned themselves accordingly. The most important way to get this frequency is to spend time with those who live by that frequency. There is a famous saying about wealthiness, ‘your wealthy companions make you rich or kick you out of their circle’. They’ll kick you out mainly because of mismatched frequency. It does not correspond that you should also be involved in some if any unlawful activities but it means that your brain also starts thinking, deciding and acting in the ways theirs do.

The third prerequisite in my opinion is to complete the tasks in all aspects. Giving an example of one enrolled in a medical school we know that he/she needs to take a certain number of courses and pass all of them also. The degree will never be awarded if any course is not taken or failed. In our lives while working on any task whether related to career or personal development we must take on all issues and resolve all of them. The trick in this sense comes from the chemical process known as titration. In this process certain chemicals need to be added with some specific amount to get the required product.

Therefore in summary, one must develop the skills required (power behind the engine), should be consistent with the success frequency (right surrounding and right attitude) and should take on all issues dealing every issue in full. 

Connecting the dots....which way?

In his landmark speech at Stanford in 2005 Steve Jobs mentioned how he took class on calligraphy which made no sense at that time but later helped him to design the perfect key board. This was a clear example how the dots could be connected backward. There is a less known English saying, ‘tools find jobs to be done just as jobs find tools(to be used)’. Connecting the dots backward is something very similar to this. It implies that you collect the tools which seem irrelevant at that instant but may help you gain a success in future. 

I agree and fully agree with the term and its usefulness. However the times of Steve Jobs and before him collecting tools was good enough as market was not so competitive then. Now as days are passing the market is becoming more and more competitive and people are required to achieve more in lesser time. Hence connecting dots onward is becoming more important than connecting them backward. Yes a tool gained un-intentionally could become a great asset sometime in future but right tool attained at right time can increase chances of success and reduce wastage of time.

Giving a simple example one can plan his/her career by going through forecast reports telling what would be in demand in future. Getting ready for future is the single most important tool to have the future. When Steve Jobs was sent out of Apple he established Next and Pixar. Both of which were not for connecting the dots backward but for meeting a future need and filling a gap. Similarly when he was back to Apple after a while he started thinking about iPad and iPhone which were all connecting the dots forward not backward.

In summary its not a bad idea to collect few tools coming on way for any future potential use (to connect dots backward) but one should actively find and create dots that help him/her to connect them to future.