Let’s face it, success is hard. It is not easy. If success is easy, everyone would be successful.
Think about Lionel Messi, a skillful and professional football player that has made countless outstanding achievements in the football industry. And in one of his commercials, these were his words…
“I start early and I stay late, day after day, year after year, it took me 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success.”
As you can see, it is not easy. And there’s only one Messi in this world.
Of course, there are many other great football players in the world, but how many of them make it to the top?
You know the answer.
And if you look at every other industry, you will discover the same thing – only a few made it to the top.
However, no matter what industry you’re in, there will be a group of super successful people who managed to make it to the top. They are in the top 10% of the industry.
And your mission is to get there. To join the top 10%, not the bottom 90%.
The good news is that anyone can become successful and get to the top 10% of the industry they’re in.
In this article, I’m going to share with you why success is so hard, and what you should do about it.
1. Success is hard because it requires a strong self-belief
The first reason success is hard is it requires a strong self-belief. You see, since the day you were born, you have been conditioned by your parents, relatives, friends, teachers, co-workers, and society to believe that success is hard, and is only meant for the gifted.
This is especially true if the people who you spend the most time with are not successful. Your thoughts and belief system will be affected by those who you connect with.
And when you don’t believe you can do it, you will never succeed. And you can’t do it with a half-hearted attempt.
This is why Will Smith said:
“The first step is you have to say that you can.”
So, ask yourself, do you believe that you are destined for big success in life?
If you do, great, go ahead and take massive action to turn your dreams into reality.
But if you don’t, you need to work on yourself first. You must cultivate an empowering self-belief and trust that you can succeed.
When you don’t believe you can succeed, you will never bother taking action or working on your goals and dreams.
Here are 2 resources you can start with:
- Why It is Important to Believe in Yourself
- How to Believe in Yourself to Achieve Your Goals and Dreams
2. Success is hard because it needs intense focus
The second reason why success is difficult is it needs intense focus. That’s right, success isn’t going to come to you by accident, but by design.
It is not like you wake up the next morning, and find yourself with an extra million dollars in the bank. Success isn’t going to fall from the sky.
If you want something, you need to plan for it and focus on working on it until you get it. Period.
Unfortunately, most people believe in luck. They thought that successful people are successful because they are lucky. Or that they have inherited their wealth or business from their family.
While there are cases where people inherit a huge amount of wealth, this is not always the case. Plus, these are not the good examples that we are looking into.
Success is intentional. No one wins the marathon or the Olympic gold medal by mistake, chance, or accident.
It is what you do that determines what you get in life. Hence, success requires intense focus on a goal.
To be successful, you must start with a dream. Then turn the dream into goals. Create actionable plans for your goals. And you must focus on working on your plans. That’s how success is created.
So, if you don’t know where to start, start with a goal. Check out my ultimate guide:
3. Success is hard because it doesn’t happen overnight
That’s right, success is hard because it is NOT going to happen overnight. You see, everything takes time. You can’t build a business from scratch today and start making millions tomorrow.
Unless you already have the fundamentals and support, success is going to take time.
And this is why it is difficult to succeed. Because when something requires a long-term effort, too many things can happen in between.
Most people fail to succeed because they give up halfway on their journey. Some choose to switch plans as they got distracted by other shiny objects. And some quit because they lack motivation or think that they don’t have what it takes to succeed.
Whatever the reasons, you have to understand that success is a long-term effort. It is not going to come to you overnight.
And that means you will have to work on your goals for the long term. And you know what you need to help you go through all the roadblocks and challenges in the journey? Habits. Empowering habits.
Because success is a marathon and not a sprint, you need to build empowering habits that will get you the results you want over the long term.
When it comes to building habits, this book is a must-read…
4. Success is hard because we are affected by others
As I said above, success requires intense focus. If you don’t, you will get distracted by others.
You see, as human beings, we are easily affected by what others do or say. This is why who you spend your time with is important. You want to make sure you spend most of your time connecting with positive people, not just anyone.
Do you know how Warren Buffett, one of the most successful investors of all time, managed to accumulate his wealth through investing?
The answer – he has the skill to ‘divorce’ himself from the noise around him. Buffett seems to be able to ignore the market performance and divorce himself from all the noises around him while holding on to his stocks and his decisions. I suggest you read this article to understand more.
Most people are emotionally affected when the market fluctuates. But not Buffett. It is not easy to stick to your investment when everyone is shouting ‘sell’ but you keep holding on.
This is why it is vital to stand your ground. You don’t want to be affected by what others are doing or are telling you to do.
5. Success is hard because you are fearful
Another reason why success is hard is we are fearful. We are afraid of uncertainty. We are afraid that things will not go according to our plan. And we are afraid of what if we fail.
And this is why most people are not willing to venture out of their comfort zone and try new things. They are too afraid of failure and the changes.
When you worry that something is not going to work out, you will hold yourself back and stop innovating.
Imagine you have the idea to start a business. But if the economy is weak and retrenchment is on the rise, what would you do? Will you still go ahead to quit your job and start the business? I doubt it.
This is what holds most people back – fear. When you are afraid of making mistakes or failure, you don’t even want to try. It makes you stick to where you are and continue to do what you know in your comfort zone.
Therefore, if you want to succeed, you must be willing to get out of your comfort zone and try new things.
Remember this saying from Tony Robbins:
“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.”
So, what should you do to get out of your comfort zone? Here’s how:
6. Success is hard because things are constantly changing
That’s right, success is difficult because things are always changing. And that means you must constantly innovate and improve yourself to thrive.
Think about Motorola. It is the company that invented the mobile phone. But where is Motorola today?
If you stop improving and innovating yourself, you will soon become obsolete. Competitors will rise and take away your market share.
It may sound cruel, but this is how the world works.
It is the same in the sports industry. If you don’t train yourself and work hard to improve your skills, your competitors will outdo you and overtake you.
This is why you must commit to constant and never-ending improvement.
Here’s what you can do:
- Read more books. Make it a habit to read for at least 30 minutes every day.
- Keep yourself updated on your industry.
- Attend workshops and seminars.
- Take courses and training.
Read: How To Improve Yourself Everyday By Setting Benchmark Goals
7. Success is hard because you are conditioned to believe so
And finally, success is hard because you have been conditioned to believe so. I believe that success is not hard or easy. It is just what it is.
For example, some bloggers and YouTubers earn hundreds of thousands of dollars by publishing their content. And they do it while sitting comfortably in their house.
What about those construction workers who have been working from day to night, under the hot sun, and they only earn a couple of thousands a month? Don’t you think they have poured in the hard work as well?
Hence, it all depends on how you look at things. And there’s no such thing as success is hard or success is easy.
Success will be hard if you believe it is hard. And success will be easy if you believe it is easy. It all depends on your thinking and how you look at it.
Therefore, from this moment on, choose to believe that success is coming your way. Choose to think that success is not hard, but something fun to pursue.
Always keep this in your mind…
“You attract what you are not what you want.”
That’s right. You will attract what you are, not what you want. Hence, if you want something, you must work on equipping yourself with the right mentality.
I suggest you watch this video to learn how your thinking and attraction work.