2024 01 04 – The experiment Step 1, I asked Google for an Answer

Experiment Log 2 – When I wrote the title to this article, it was like I had a revelation. In the old days I used to ask GOD for an answer, now I ask Google. In Google we trust!

The goal

So I started with my first commitment. As described in the previous timeline element (Experiment Log 1) , I would retrieve as much information as possible on personal development and then work with that information in order to better realize and improve myself. The goal was to understand why my achievements were not to the level of my expectations and finally bring them to that level.

I thought long and hard and asked Google for an answer to my question : “how can i succeed more?”

Google giveth

I am somewhat successful, but felt (and still do) that I was not as successful as I could be. In fact I often thought I was a failure as I had reached a professional level still far below my perceived capabilities. So my question could not have been “how can I succeed?”, but rather “how to succeed more?”. My quest was to understand what was inhibiting my success, what has put a cap on my ability for “greatness”.

Google Top 8 results where very interesting. It gave me back :

The Articles

Wow…! It found for me “How to be successful in Life” and the “…do ONE (1) of these 10 things to be SUPER Successful”. Ignoring all this was really not an option. So I started reading at once.

1st Article : The advice included came out of books and quotes. Think big, Find what you love to do and do it, Do not be afraid to fail, Have an unwavering resolution to succeed, Act, Avoid Conflict.

2nd Article : Success is a MINDSET, Do not chase “magic bullets” (magic solutions that is), Do not fear failure, Set up a goal, Find a mentor, Act, Believe you Deserve it.

3rd Article : Identify your passion, write down your goals, have a purpose, commit, be healthy, surround yourself with positive people.

Then some weird “value” oriented advice started coming up like :

4th Article : Focus on commitment and motivation will follow, Seek knowledge not results, Make it fun, Get rid of stagnating thoughts and get out of your comfort zone, Do not be nice to yourself, Get rid of distractions, Do not rely on others, Plan, Do not burn out.

All this negativity -don’t do this, don’t do that- made me lose interest, but fortunately a more motivating article popped up.

The 5th Article included : “Success — true, lasting success — is within your grasp. It is possible. It is available, to every person, at this moment”, Most people simply aren’t willing, It’s a choice available to all but with a high cost though, Growth and comfort cannot co-exist, become fit and healthy so your body and mind are able to function at extremely high levels so you can produce work that can truly change the world. Success is a lonely road, choose education and learning over entertainment. You have to pay the price, as the price for being extraordinary is a high one. It means severing ties with toxic individuals. It often means waking up earlier, eating healthier, and saying “no” to things you used to say yes to. If It’s Not a “Hell Yes!” It’s a No. Acting “As If” Becomes Acting “As Is.”

This 5th article was really inspiring. I am not claiming that the other articles were wrong but this was just better articulated and well positioned. Further on the article, there was a revelation that immediately pushed me further ahead in the quest for self-improvement and leadership development:

Willpower doesn’t work. Commitment does. Willpower is like a muscle. The more you use it, the more tired it gets. It s a finite resource that becomes depleted with use. It is only through an unwavering commitment to a new lifestyle that truly allows you to accomplish extraordinary things.

And then, an additional lesson that I really valued emerged :

In the long run, it’s not about intensity — it’s about consistency.

(From Angela Duckworth’s, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance) –>. In short, it is not the individual with the greatest starting position or motivation that usually wins — it’s the person who has the most “grit.” The person who can last the longest.

But you see, consistency is about commitment with a plan, Instead of your capacity for maximum instant power (this is intensity), you should value your commitment to stick with your game plan. This is so simple and elegant and I so much wanted it to be true, but was it? We will find out.

6th Article : That was where my first hero emerged, Brian Tracy.He says that The Four Keys To Success are (i) Decide exactly what you want and where you want to go, (ii) Set a deadline and make a plan to get there. (Remember, a goal is just a dream with a deadline), (iii) Take action on your plan; do something every day to move toward your goal, (iv) Resolve in advance that you will persist until you succeed, that you will never, ever give up.

He claimed that this formula has worked for almost everyone who has ever tried it and this statement really made me interested in Brian Tracy’s views, so I decided then to follow him up in more detail.

After all that the 7th Article, seemed somewhat generic and mainly focused on management issues, and the 8th Article was not something I was looking ahead for, BUT, it managed to positively surprise me. It mentioned things like :

Establishing a positive daily routine is a self-investment. It provides benefits like giving you structure, building forward-moving habits, and creating momentum that will carry you on the days when you feel like you don’t have the strength to carry yourself.

I really understand momentum. My best times were built on positive momentum and I believe it is a key instrument of success. The following were also mentioned:

Visualize success or what you want to “harness the power of your subconscious mind.” In the words of author Ryan Holiday, “Bring something to the table. Anything. Plan the day ahead and get the most out of it, break the day in chunks.

Now what?

It was an amazing read, but what did I make of it? I thought hard and long and tried to understand if there was a meaning, a common message behind these articles that could teach me something valuable. There were some.

One way to see these lessons was that if you needed to succeed (in general)

You need to be committed
You need to have a plan
You must want it (be committed) and persist
You have to ACT
You must start NOW
Will power is not enough, (you need to be committed)
You need stamina and energy so that you can last
Its a lonely road and you need to be focused and avoid conflict

But now, I had more questions and still I had not found what was inhibiting my success, what was stopping me from achieving my full potential. The message was not clear. I should be committed to what?. Have a plan of what? Act and do what? Partially it was mentioned that a positive daily routine will forge a positive attitude and momentum that will lead one through to success. But really, what is success for me and what is missing for me to succeed in it?

More info on the InBzns | Experiment can be found here.

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