The main quality of successful people

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Konstantin Smygin, founder of the service of key ideas from business literature MakeRight.ru, shared with the readers of Lifehacker his conclusions from the 2016 bestseller “Toughness of character. The Power of Passion and Perseverance”, which has not yet been published in Russian.

The book "Fortitude" is based on Angela Duckworth's research on strength of character, hard work and perseverance. Duckworth has been studying for several years how these qualities help to achieve much better results than talent, which, in her opinion, can remain a thing in itself if it is not supported by constant practice and everyday work.

People always admire talent, as if assuming in advance that everything else is irrelevant. A person who has discovered talent in himself often believes that this is enough for success in life. But this is not the case. Every success is based on constant and persistent practice, hard daily work.

As a child and adolescent, Duckworth often heard from her father that she was not a genius. However, the same was said to other family members: the father was very interested in the intellectual abilities of the household, he was disappointed with them, and even with his own. A first-generation Chinese émigré, he worked hard and long before getting a job as a chemist at DuPont. A sense of duty and Confucian ethics made him primarily work for the good of his family, not caring much about his own calling.

Duckworth believes that the words "you are not a genius" were the first to be said to himself by his father. Even when Angela won a special McArthur award, the so-called genius grant, his opinion did not change, although he was proud of his daughter.

But by that time, Angela agreed with her father: she did not consider herself more genius than her fellow psychologists. The grant went to her for completely different qualities: for perseverance, hard work and love for her work. These qualities are often underestimated, admiring something for which there is no personal merit: an innate mental or physical ability called talent.

Angela Duckworth writes about perseverance, perseverance, talent and vocation that are directly related to success in life. Here are some of the conclusions she came to …

1. Your potential is not as important as the ability to manage it

Everyone loves talented people, whether their potential is realized or not. This phenomenon is called natural data preference. This is the magic of talent. He has a hypnotic attraction, seems like something magical, he is preferred by employers when choosing one or another candidate, even if the rest are distinguished by hard work, perseverance and perseverance.

Research by Duckworth's colleague, psychologist Chia-Jung Tsay, has shown that if you need to evaluate the skill of a talented person and a hardworking person, the choice will be in favor of the former.

As an experience, Chia first asked a group of people to fill out questionnaires, where, among other things, it was necessary to note what they value more: hard work or a natural gift. They were then given music recordings to listen to. In one case, it was said that a gifted musician played, in the other, he was working hard and hard on himself. As a result, most of the points were scored by the "talented performer", while the subjects listened to the same recording and the musician was, respectively, the same.

Is talent alone enough to be successful? Often gifted people, accustomed from childhood to spend less effort than ordinary children, do not have the skill of overcoming obstacles, do not temper their character in the struggle with stubborn material. For the time being, everything is easy for them, until they reach the border beyond which talent alone is no longer enough.

Duckworth recounts how she left the prestigious McKinsey firm, which recruits talented young people with out-of-the-box thinking to provide forecasts and practical advice to large firms. She was sure that most of these recommendations were superficial and far from reality, and that firms were simply wasting a lot of money by ordering them from McKinsey's "genius corporation."

Having worked in two schools, in New York and San Francisco, as a mathematics teacher, Duckworth noticed a pattern: students with mathematical talent, who in the first lessons received completely excellent grades and stood out strongly against the background of less gifted classmates, by the end of the school year worsened their results or remained at the same level. Those students for whom the subject was not easy, who spent a lot of energy on mastering stubborn material, gradually caught up with the talents, and soon overtook them.

Talent is potential, but potential alone is not enough.

Duckworth studied the achievements of the cadets at the West Point Military Academy, where a particularly difficult test is provided for beginners, requiring all their strength. Many passed exams, passed psychological tests and showed excellent physical fitness. However, it was this test that was decisive, after which half was eliminated. There were only those who did not give up, showed strength of character and were used to straining their will.

Angela Duckworth in the place of employers would deliberately choose persistent workers, not succumbing to the charm of giftedness and unrealized potential. Meanwhile, according to the author, the opposite happens most often.

2. Talent is discovered through hard work

Like many young psychologists, Duckworth wondered why some people were more successful than others.

As she studied past research, she discovered in the library a work by Francis Galton, Charles Darwin's cousin, dedicated to excellence in fields ranging from sports to poetry. Galton compiled biographies of celebrities and claimed that all of these people had talent combined with "exceptional zeal" and a willingness to work hard. Darwin, having familiarized himself with his brother's work, wrote to him that the clause on talent surprised him.

With the exception of complete fools, the famous scientist believed, all people are more or less equal in intelligence and differ only in perseverance and the ability to work. Darwin did not consider himself particularly talented and often emphasized that his hard work and love for natural science were much more important than his intelligence and ability to scientific observations.

It is this love for his work, which Duckworth calls passion, that makes a person develop his talents through hard work.

Man, as a biological creature, is distinguished by a love of pleasure and a desire to give meaning to his existence. Favorite work allows you to combine these two aspirations: work becomes pleasure when it makes sense.

Duckworth does not diminish the importance of talent, does not deny its importance, but does not consider it paramount. People who have discovered a vocation in themselves must find both the strength and the time to constantly improve in it.

3. If you have not found your calling, try yourself hard in different areas

Studying the profiles of athletes, musicians, artists, Duckworth noted that the path of these people to their beloved business was not always straightforward. Many of them have tried themselves in various fields.

Some athletes-swimmers first jumped long, ran short and long distances, even boxed. They did not come to swimming immediately, but only after determining that other sports did not give them such pleasure.

There is another way: from childhood, a person is drawn to something, at every opportunity he tries to return to his favorite pastime, practices in it and as a result either successfully combines with other areas in which he succeeded, or completely goes into it.

Duckworth gives several examples. Her fellow psychologist Chia-Jung Tsai, who has conducted research on the perception of talented people, teaches at University College London, holds degrees in the history of science, social psychology and music. In addition, she often performs with piano concerts with orchestras and solos. Tsai herself believes that she may have had some kind of musical talent, but the main thing is that she loved music very much and tried from childhood to practice every day for several hours. She wanted to play better and better, and she often represented the applauding audience and herself on stage. It gave strength. Tsai is now successfully combining all his talents, fueled by practice and hard work.

Duckworth recommends trying a variety of activities. This will help develop the habit of work, you will have new skills that will not go to waste. When you finally find your true calling, you will come to him mature, strong and will gladly give him all your strength and skills.

4. By doing what you love, constantly improve your skills by hard work

This is how Angela Duckworth understands the development of talent. She cites the famous 92-year-old potter Warren MacKenzie as an example. In his youth, together with his wife, an artist, he tried himself in painting, drawing, modeling clothes, jewelry, until he became interested in ceramics. It was in her that the couple wanted to achieve real success, clay burning became a true passion.

The first clay pots were primitive and took a long time to make, but the couple did not stop their efforts. Gradually, the products became better and better, and less and less time was spent on them. Talent multiplied by effort gave skill. Over time, pots and other ceramics gained popularity and began to be in demand. They started talking about young ceramists. So skill, multiplied by effort, led them to success.

Washington Irving, a classic of American literature, read very slowly as a child, which is why teachers considered him lazy and narrow-minded. Classmates read a text in an hour, it took Irving twice as long. But he trained, having learned from childhood that he needed to overstrain himself in order to do something well. Gradually, repeated exercise and repetition became second nature to him. Already being a writer, he reread what he had written for a long time and carefully corrected his texts until he brought it to perfection. He spent more time rereading and editing than the story itself. So the disadvantage - slow reading - turned into an advantage that helped Irving become a world-famous writer.

Angela Duckworth advises: anyone who wants to succeed should constantly practice, train, work. Skills will improve first, productivity will increase. Then success will inevitably follow.

5. Set a long-term goal and go towards it with passion and perseverance

Such a goal may be a new world record, or a solo concert, or asserting oneself in some new capacity. First, a person develops an interest in some kind of occupation. If he inwardly enjoys what he does, passion begins with this.

Many stubborn people interviewed by Duckworth said that they did not always manage to completely devote themselves to their favorite business, they had to put up with a couple of things that were uninteresting, but necessary. But they did not forget about their passion, about what they liked to do.

Practice is next. Duckworth advises focusing on fixing flaws and continuing to get better until real mastery emerges. “I will improve in what I love, no matter what it costs me” - this is the motto of all stubborn people. Duckworth calls this kind of work deliberate practice.

To get the most out of deliberate practice, Duckworth advises making it a habit.

When a person achieves mastery, he must set himself a high, long-term goal. It is impossible to maintain interest without a goal for a long time. Three-time Olympic swimming champion Rowdy Gaines, whom Duckworth cites as an example, “strove to beat himself” at every training session, break his previous record, and every day he swam a split second faster. From such small victories great achievements are born. A lofty goal, among other things, arises from the consciousness that a person is doing a really important thing.

Duckworth recalls the famous parable of the bricklayers, who were asked what they did. One answered: "I am laying bricks," the other: "I am building a cathedral," and the third: "I am building the house of God." Duckworth characterizes the first as a simple worker without ambition, the second as a careerist, and the third as a person with a high purpose and vocation.

To be successful, Duckworth advises setting a high goal so that every step brings you closer to it. All perseverance and strength of character should be aimed at achieving it, and failures should not be embarrassing.

6. Don't stop halfway and don't be afraid of failure

Many people who do not have sufficient strength of character and perseverance tend to back down at the first failure. For a truly stubborn person, any failure is a challenge, any difficulty is an opportunity to overcome it.

As an example, Duckworth cites the actor Will Smith, who took part in her research. Smith did not consider himself smarter, more talented, or sexier than others - there is all this in Hollywood in abundance. But in one capacity, he was ready to compete with anyone: Will argued that he was not afraid to die on the treadmill, referring to his willingness to work to complete exhaustion. He is not afraid of failure - this is part of life. His work ethic is based on the principle of never giving up effort.

The path to success is a marathon, and it will take a long time to run.

How do stubborn people perceive failure? Duckworth's research shows that these stubborn people are optimistic about them. In response to the question "What was your biggest disappointment?" successful and creative people, regardless of occupation, answered almost the same thing: “Yes, there were some failures, but I don’t think they disappointed me much. This, of course, is not very pleasant, but I have learned my lesson and will continue to work."

Final comments

It would seem that Angela Duckworth talks about the obvious things, but shows them from a different, unusual perspective. Perseverance and perseverance from literary clichés she turns into objects of scientific study.

We often work hard, but at the same time we do not even think about the purpose of our work, about whether we are wasting time. On the other hand, someone has a dream - to write a book, become an artist, conquer the top, and so on - but he does not even think about specific daily efforts that will become steps towards achieving the goal, and remains a dreamer all his life, even if he has vocation and talent.

Duckworth teaches how to use labor to make your talent serve your favorite work, in order to ultimately achieve the well-deserved success.

There are no magic recipes for success in the book, it is extremely specific. For some talented dreamer, she may act like a tub of cold water, but this is only good.

At the same time, the book will not open up new horizons for those who know well from their own experience that talent alone will not go far.