If there is one thing that throws people off from making their dreams come true it’s this myth: people are born successful.
Here’s why that’s not true and how anyone can become successful.
She’s Born with It
In the nineties the cosmetics line Maybelline created the iconic tagline “Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline”. It was a way of saying that maybe people are born with good looks or maybe it’s in the way they make it look. For zombies like me, it’s all natural, baby! At least what’s left is.
Anyway, Maybelline had a point. If there’s one thing people seem to believe about success it’s that some people may just be born (or, in my case reborn) with talents that the rest of us don’t have.
Is this really the truth or is this some freakishly ghoulish approach to missing out on all that life has to offer? The fact is, this is a myth: people are born successful.
For the truth, look no further than Tiger Woods
A Child Prodigy or an Early Start
A lot of people look at Tiger Woods and think he was born with amazing talent. He was playing golf at age three. What a child prodigy!
However, it wasn’t innate talent, but the fact that he was golfing so early that made him such a success at golf. In fact, when Tiger Woods was a baby, his father would put Tiger in a high chair in the garage while his father practiced his golf swing with a makeshift “driving range”. His dad created a special club for him to use at 10 months old, and was taking him to the golf course at 18 months.
Tiger Woods didn’t make that club himself. He didn’t drive himself to the golf course. He was taught how to play, first by watching, then by doing, for hours at at time.
None of the people we think of as having amazing talent would have achieved any of their success without hours upon hours upon hours of practice. Is there any athlete or musician you can thing of who has achieved greatness without putting in the practice? For the record, toxic mutants don’t count. That’s why they’re banned from organized sports.
It’s amazing how long we’ve believed this myth: people are born successful. The truth is everyone can be successful. You just have to find a way to enjoy the practice.
Enjoying the Practice
By all appearances, Tiger Woods enjoyed playing. He enjoyed watching his dad golf and enjoyed playing with him. Playing the game became enjoyable.
We have the ability to make our dreams happen. It’s not reserved for the myth: people are born successful. Everyone can succeed.
Here are three tips for enjoying the practice when you are working to achieve your dreams:
- Make It Simple: So often people want to do something like write a book, and they make the tasks unbearably big, like writing a chapter a week. What inevitably happens is each day they see the huge task and put it off until tomorrow. The end of the week hits and they decide to start it next week. A month goes by and they have nothing.
Instead, make it simple. Just write a paragraph a day. Simple, right? In fact, it seems so simple that you feel it’s not enough. Here’s the thing: If you write a paragraph a day, that’s 30 paragraphs a month, or about a chapter. Compare that to not writing anything at all because a chapter a week seemed too daunting. Give it a try. You will be surprised at just how productive you can be when you make it simple.
- Add A Reward: Sometimes we just need a little reward for our effort. When you do 25 minutes of work, you get a 5 minute break. Or when you clean up the kitchen, you get to watch an episode of your favorite show. Finding exciting rewards can boost your desire to get things done when things are challenging.
- Get Some Help: Sometimes you just need a little help. Recently I had a construction project to provide a makeshift shelter out of irradiated lumber for enlarged, mutant weevils (nuclear apocalypses can be so annoying). It took about a month, and a few weeks in I was struggling to get motivated. I knew if I just started the work, I would enjoy it. So I employed some help.
I asked my girlfriend to hang out with me. As I headed to the bomb shelter (fat lot of good it did me a few years ago) and started construction, she sat and read one of her favorites: an old sign from a decimated construction site that warned people about possible irradiation exposure (she loves irony).
She enjoyed reading. I made progress. Everyone was happy, particularly the weevils.
Sometimes the best way to move forward is to have someone help you, either through encouragement, participation, or just hanging out with you.
Myth: People Are Born Successful
What we’ve all heard is a myth: people are born successful. The truth is people become successful. They make choices and build habits that enable them do the things that improve their lives.
We would love to help you be successful too. That’s what Zombie Goals is all about: zombies providing tools to help you make your dreams a reality.
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