Why Good People Fail to Succeed

Everyone wants to be an overnight “success” these days, but only a few are willing to put in the extra effort to stand out in a crowd. Success begets success and the best way to achieve your own success in life is to surround yourself with successful people. Here’s the catch my ambitious friend – successful people are in the driver’s seat when it comes to granting access to their time and their network. You better offer some value and have a point of difference to stand out from the crowd.

Give more – Givers gain in life and in business. I recently posted a job on UpWork. The goal was to source an editor with a marketing background for blog posts, newsletters and website copy. I submitted my job description and one of the nine documents to be edited. My goal was to find a reliable, skilled freelancer to work with ongoing. Within 24hrs I had a list of twelve qualified freelancers sporting fine-tuned resumes and briefs about why they were the best person for my project.

How many people do you think responded with the one article that I submitted already edited? Only one and she got the job. Why? Because she stood out from the crowd and took the initiative to do just a little bit more than the competition. Same price, same service.

Take initiative – Volunteer to solve the hard problems. Last week I was in a real estate license course. The contact info sheet was circulated and the instructor was going to have copies made for everyone to take home by the end of the day. One lady who was in front of the class took the initiative to transcribe the list on her phone and send out a group email connecting the class. Only three others and myself responded with gratitude and invited the others to connect on social media and to call anytime.

This was a list of industry colleagues and only 10% showed an interest in the value of the network.

On break I made a point of introducing myself and thanked the woman who took the initiative to decipher the bad handwriting of fifty strangers and type out an email list. We hooked up for a phone call the following week and it turns out there are massive opportunities waiting for us to collaborate together on after we make the appropriate introductions and zero in on the logical next step.

I look for people whose efforts stand out and every crowd has one. Give 1% more effort today than you did yesterday and cultivate the habit. You will stand out and rise up on any task you are associated with once you start consistently giving more than you are asked.

Don’t hesitate to raise your hand to accept the challenging jobs that nobody else wants to take on. Every problem has a solution with focused effort. Be the one who takes the initiative to solve your organizations hard problems and watch success knock on your door.

Invest well,

John Carney

This article first appeared on www.johncarneyonline.com