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Dreams and ability are worthless unless they lead to concrete, usable results
I was at a dinner party a few months back, when one of the guests made the following comment: “I think I’m an extremely intelligent person”. The other guests and I were a little shocked at the arrogance of the comment, but not overly so as we knew this person had a pretty high opinion of himself.
“Why do you think that?” someone inquired.
The “extremely intelligent" person then told us about how he’d done well at university, read a lot of difficult books, and was working on the first draft of a great novel. I knew he'd recently been made redundant from a job that was only slightly above average in pay and responsibilities.
For all I know, he could be a lot more intelligent than he comes across as, but the evidence isn’t very compelling. None of his achievements are particularly stellar, and it’s difficult to think of anything he’s produced or done that was spectacular in any way.
The world is full of people like this, and you probably know a few yourself - those who think they’re smarter or more able than everybody else just because they've passed a few exams or read a few books. The complete lack of real-world achievement that many such individuals have reached makes me doubt that they’re as wonderful as they believe.
Ability is worthless in such a vacuum. Only if it leads to solid, usable results can it be considered of any value.
Another type of person that seems very common, is the incessant dreamer. Now there’s nothing wrong with dreaming, and I do a lot of it myself. But people who always talk about this or that fantastic idea they’ve had and how they’re going to become rich or famous with it are ten a penny.
Once again, dreams that don’t lead to solid, usable results are next to worthless.
Those who have excessive dreams and high-levels of confidence in their own abilities often think that’s all it takes to achieve success. All they have to do is wait around for someone to discover just how brilliant they are, and the rewards will roll in. They may even put in a token effort by drawing up a few plans, talking up their ideas, or writing a draft or two.
But the world rarely pays attention to such people. They often grow bitter as they get older, believing we’ve all missed out on an amazing opportunity to make our lives better.
“If only they’d listened to me, everything would be different,” they imagine.
If you have ability and dreams, you can use the mistaken beliefs of such people to your advantage.
Rather than talking up how great you are and what wonderful ideas you have, put your energy into producing something useable and concrete. Create something that people can see, hear and touch out of your abilities and dreams. Not a draft, or a strategy, but an actual working model of whatever it is.
If you’re a musician, write a great song; if you’re a novelist, write a great book, if you’re an engineer, design a great product. Nobody will be interested in a product until it’s complete, so don’t bother talking it up until that time comes.
Once people can see that you’re someone who knows how to get things done - who actually produces useful outcomes rather than just talking about them - you’ll be well on your way to success.
There are so many people out there who talk up what they’re going to do without delivering, coast along delivering the bare-minimum they can get away with, or obstruct things being delivered with bureaucracy and other stalling tactics, that simply identifying yourself as someone who actually get things done you’ll stand out as something special.
Usually, for example, when I start a new job, I’ll get straight onto producing something useful. Often, I’ll do so without being asked, and aim to deliver more than was expected of me. Using this strategy, I can usually establish myself pretty quickly as an important person with management and colleagues.
Another example from my own life is a website I once created in a niche that clearly wasn’t being served. All sorts of people had talked about how they were going to create a great site for that niche, but nobody had actually done it. Within weeks of launch, I had lots of media interest and had been contacted by many of the big players in that market. Just by producing something concrete, I’d established myself as someone important.
What distinguishes almost all successful people from the dreamers that surround them is their ability to deliver useful, tangible outcomes. Become someone who has a track-record of doing that, and you'll have all sorts of interesting opportunities presented to you.
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