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Now that I am old I think a lot about my life and career. One thing I always ask myself is: "why wasn't I more successful in my career?" and "Why didn't I make more money?"
I worked hard, got lots of training and kept active in my career and had an advanced degree. Why was XXX more successful than me?
Where ever you are in your career today. Do you ever wonder why you have not been more successful? What do you think is the reason?
Working hard, training, advanced degree etc. are all nice and will allow you to get a decent job and retire someday. Things like initiative, creating thinking, networking, brown nosing, putting yourself out there, working outside of your comfort zone, working extra long/hard hours, becoming a leader and not just a worker, are what set people on a different path of higher pay and success (depending how you define success).
When you said being successful, I'm assuming you are referring to making more money. I believe in order to make more money, you have to be able to contribute to the society first, and the money will find you. Of course, training, education, opportunity, all plays a part of it. I believe there's equilibrium in this universe that we human can't see and understand, and what you do will determine where you go down the road.
Luck = Blind stupid luck, right place at the right time.
Charismatic Personality = one where people will give you the shirt off their backs without hesitation, can make friends without any effort, etc.
Attractiveness = Good looks with great body. Average or above average in height.
Lifestyle = No one mistook you for weird or g*y (especially if you're a dude)
Background = right skin color/ethic background/religious group.
The above are the real barriers on why you might have not been more successful. The job industry can also affect the degree to which the above matter.
4 of 5 of these occur by being the person that organizes the happy hours.
Luck - You hear about the best opportunities that you shouldn't because they aren't public. Generally by the time they are public, they are in effect spoken for.
Charisma, attractiveness, lifestyle - even if you are naturally lacking in these it helps immensely if many of your interactions occur while those around you have had a couple. Average becomes attractive. Awkward becomes approachable.
The only thing missing is the ability to delegate. Its always best to be the least busy so that you have capacity to step in when something you have delegated starts going south.
Many of the people I know got in a real good company right out of college, that was growing and needed people with their skill set. They also found a great supporter and mentor who in a sense took them under their wing and saw that they were successful and helped get them promotions, etc. Getting into the right company with great mentors at in your 20s seems to be the key to lifetime success.
Last edited by Old retired folks; 05-22-2017 at 01:04 PM..
I'm not retired yet but have had a pretty successful career. If any thing has held me back it's that I am not a "yes-man" and speak truth to management even when they don't want to hear it. It's probably kept me from a couple promotions along the way but I can sleep nights.
Maybe because you were an introvert, shy and quiet. You didn't know how to sell yourself.
I learned on the internet and real life that introverts are thinkers, extrovert are talkers. Mostly extroverts are bold and are not afraid to talk about anything. They know how to talk about themselves, and therefore they can sell themselves easier and faster.
Of course, there are successful introverts and extroverts in the corporate world. But the percentage of successful people is more on the extroverts.
Last edited by AnOrdinaryCitizen; 05-22-2017 at 03:38 PM..
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