5 Paths to Success You Should Consider Taking This Year

A lot of people take the lazy path of attributing success to chance or luck. Sure, some people got lucky, but this is just the surface of the story. We’ve all heard stories about people who won the lottery and lost it all or ended up miserable. Also, what seems like an easy success might hide tons of grind beneath it all. 

Seneca once said that luck is what happens when preparedness meets opportunity. Funnily enough, this preparedness is something that no one mentions when listing these “lucky” instances and success stories.

Success has nothing to do with chance. People who succeed do so either by taking the road less traveled or persevering longer than others on a well-paved path. With that in mind, here’s the list of the five most important reasons why some people succeed while others fail. 

1. Become an early adopter

Most of the time, being an early adopter gives you a seemingly unfair head start. Why “seemingly” well, because this is where all those “luck” accusations come from, and what people fail to understand is that the research is, for the most part, what’s responsible for discovering a trend that’s worth adopting early.

The best example is people who bought BTC early. Did they know that it was going to explode? Probably not (or no one would sell), but they understood the potential behind it, which was present even when BTC was just $12 per coin.

Even then, it had lower transaction fees (since there’s no intermediary) and provided a lot of anonymity for both parties. Anyone tech and finance-savvy had to recognize that the potential for this trend to go big was quite real.

The funny part is that while you might have been late to the party when it comes to BTC, according to Techopedia, there are so many other cryptos worth picking up.

This doesn’t just reflect on crypto; any form of innovative idea or a service will have a head start if it’s first. After all, how does Netflix compete (as equal) to much older and more powerful brands like HBO, Disney, Amazon, and Apple? The answer is simple – they were the first!

2. Master the art of networking

Every business is a people business. People who like you are more open to suggestions of any kind. They are willing to look past your flaws and tolerate mistakes (even covering for you if you need it).

Even in this day and age, when they can just look up the numbers and see if it’s worth doing business with you, most people will go by their gut feeling. In fact, even in B2B, which is supposed to be more data-driven than B2C, you have a personal bias playing a significant role. 

Sure, they’re representing a business but you still have actual people in these positions, and people can’t just turn off their biases on command.

Networking is important when you have a boss, as well as when you have a subordinate. In the first case, it may determine how fast you’re advancing. The second scenario may determine how hard people in your employ try.

Either way, learning how to leave a good impression, actively listen, lead by example, and show a genuine interest in people is something that you should practice. It’s hard work, but it will return multi-fold. 

3. Learn how to measure yourself

Man’s reach always exceeds his grasp, but the problem with this quote is the fact that it always has a far more positive connotation than it really deserves. By accepting too much work, working too many hours, and saying yes all the time, you’ll face so many negative consequences.

• Burnout
• Ruining your reputation
• Growing dissatisfaction with your business
• Loss of authority

The key thing is that you learn how to measure yourself and understand the capabilities of your enterprise at any given moment. 

First of all, you need to accept that you’re in it for the long run if you waste all your energy in the first month (and yes, while it sounds counterintuitive, you do have a finite amount of energy). The worst part is that the success rate is the slowest in the beginning (while you’re investing the most energy). This is why it will often feel like you’re not getting anywhere or that the reward is not proportional to the amount of work you’re putting in.

You must also master the art of saying no. For a lot of entrepreneurs, saying no feels like it brings bad luck (and karma will get you for this by sending no offers your way). Still, this is just a superstition and nothing else. The sooner you learn this, the better.

4. Do your research

You need to work smart, not hard, in order to succeed. Don’t get us wrong, working hard is incredibly important, but it won’t get you to success on its own.

The No.1 reason why startups and small businesses fail is because there’s no market need for what they’re selling. This is something that you can easily check through market research. 

The No.2 reason is the lack of funds. This, too, can be researched, and you can invest a bit more effort into fundraising, even postpone the launch of their business bit. 

In other words, the main reason why some succeed (even though others try harder) is because they distribute their labor smarter. Instead of overworking themselves in the early stages, they spend this time and energy on research. This way, they know where their effort will make the biggest impact.

Researching your competitors and networking will allow you to learn from the mistakes of others. Sure, you learn best from your own mistakes, but your own mistakes are expensive. It would be far simpler and more comforting if you could see where others failed or what they could have done better. 

It would also be smart to borrow a few of their ideas. You would be shocked just how much you can copy without infringing on their IP. 

5. Preparing for any outcome

Being ready for any outcome is one of the most criminally underrated traits of successful people. However, this can backfire in two ways.

First, you can enter this field too stary-eyed and assume that nothing bad can happen. In this scenario, you have no contingency plan and are forced to improvise when things go south.

Second, you don’t prepare for success. In this scenario, unprecedented growth leaves you unprepared to catch up, which can get your business seriously sidetracked. In some scenarios, this can be just as bad as the first situation.

To avoid this, make sure to estimate three outcomes:

• The most likely
• The pessimistic one
• The optimistic one

This is the so-called three-point estimate, and it could end up saving your business. 

Success is an outcome of doing many small things better than others

There’s nothing lazier and more insulting than just attributing one’s hard work to luck. Still, it’s an easy answer that brings comfort to those who can’t be bothered to put in the effort. Sure, chance plays a role in it, but not nearly as big and definitive as you may think. Every once in a while, you’ll find yourself at a crossroads, and you’ll be rewarded for picking the right path.