Back in the school days, we always had that one kid in the class, whom everyone thought was beyond our league and stood apart from the rest. Someone who we thought would one day revolutionize the world.
Apparently, the only kid in the class who had the happiest, encouraging parents-teachers meeting as compared to the rest of us.
Fast forwarding back to this day, how many of us remember that seemingly brilliant kid from each school term? Or is there a familiar name running in the news for some massive accomplishment in the business, technological industry, or any other market.
Not only others, but even you could have been that kid.
We often fall under the impression that working hard and being smart while living in a thriving environment guarantees us unmatchable success. So what makes us fall short?
The thing to realize is that there are various other important things as well that call for a genuine success in our lifetime, let it be having a job you’re passionate about, marrying the love of your life, staying at your physical prime, etc.
As for this discussion, let’s talk about the reasons why smart, hardworking people tastes little or no success at all over their years.
They prefer to stay in their shell
Nevertheless, staying with people we know quite well such as family, close friends, etc. is the easiest thing. You have a defined comfort zone with them through which you express your inner self, insecurities, and other personality traits without the fear of being judged.
However, one major downside of staying within your trusted circle is that you rarely learn new things outside your bubble, but it’s the same old jokes and activities repeated over and over again.
The point is to start reaching new people. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have any particular purpose with them, but even a meeting for the sake of networking can help you greatly.
Try to go small from the beginning, for example, deciding to meet 1 or 2 new people each week.
They resist change
More of a continuation of the 1st point, but needs a separate addressing due to its importance. Let it be workplace, neighborhood, or even a city, being in the same environment for an extended period makes it increasingly difficult for people to acclimate to new surroundings.
Yes, we have heard it since high school, “change opens new doors to opportunities and growth”. Now is the time to believe and act on it!
Rather than resisting changes, think about how to use them for your own accord. In doing so, you are learning newer perspectives and personal development opportunities never thought of before.
You might be switching to a new workplace but aren’t sure of its floor environment and overall atmosphere (from what you observed at the time of interviews). Consider learning from the new job description and other activities that you never got the chance to do at your old, beloved workplace.
In short, being curious and open to new ideas and situations is the key to your personal growth and career success ladder.
They are scared or apprehensive to take risks
Most smart people are known to be smart for a reason, they rarely take the twisted path but the safest route for success. They often follow the same career path of their peers just because everyone is running with the tide with nothing unusual at stake. Thumbs up?
No! Walking an obstacle-free path and seeing a light at the end of the tunnel is merely an illusion, which washes off in the long run. From another perspective, the situation may guarantee you a security, but it can be tiresome as well.
It is not uncommon to see numerous young professionals claiming to be working in an unfulfilled job environment and career and want to do something else, but are afraid to take a considerable, life-changing risk.
People who are too risk-averse fail to recognize the future impact of a decision made today, let it be switching their career, home, or anything that could steer the course of their entire life.
Think about how your life could be years from now after taking a risk and reaping the unexpected rewards from it. Would there be joy? Repercussions? Or a mixture of both?
They believe they deserve success according to their credentials
As we stated above with an example of a brilliant kid in school days, it does seem great at the moment, but it also has its fair share of downsides as well.
Often people claim that they deserve something extraordinary in life, thanks to their intelligence or the elite school or college they attended. In other words, they expect everything to work out for them automatically, just because they did attend Harvard, Oxford, or worked in Unilever, Google and so on.
Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as we expect life to be.
In reality, you rarely get the results you initially signed up for. Besides the required blend of hard work and strategic intelligence, we also need a stroke of luck to get things done our way. However, you can always enhance the probability of luck by focusing more on the first two elements.
They are only excited about the trendiest things
One of the common things you’ll hear from a top achiever is that they hate wasting time. Smart workers acknowledge the value of their every hour and minute. It can be said that time and effort invested on a particular activity means you could most likely be missing onto something else equal, if not bigger.
Understandably it is a strong trait, but also indicates you are simply chasing the next-big-thing and not keeping tabs on the goal in hand.
People tend to acquire a job or activity that is currently running red hot in the market in terms of salary, job outlook, and overall personal and professional development prospects. When you are overwhelmed with a plethora of choices, you tend to jump from ship to ship without heading off to a focused destination.
Before you are hit with the hard realization, more than a decade will have passed without much of an achievement.
The idea is to realize your core purpose in life. Yes, the Odyssey at the start will be filled with moderate to painful hiccups and ordeals, but sticking to your field or purpose is eventually going to land you the best ROI and success unlike ever.
They never believed in their abilities
Narrating another aspect of the school example again, remember how the brightest students in the class used to whine, “I don’t study anything”, “I am very worried for the finals”, etc., even after securing straight ‘As’ in the midterms. Although such students really used to hide under such pretenses, mostly, they had the complex that they aren’t good in studies.
Coming back to practical life, hardworking people are their own worst critics. Such people have the habit of continuously devaluing their abilities and convincing themselves that they can’t achieve enough.
In doing so, they tend to scrutinize each step in their work and start guessing the end result right from the start.
It might impress some of your superiors given your eye for perfection, but research has proved that people striving for flawlessness are subject to more failures that people who are more flexible in their approach and believe in themselves.
Remember, perfectionism holds people from achieving their true self both in terms of personal and professional development.
What needs to be done today to move an inch closer towards your goal? What are the things that have always obstructed your way to the top until now in life?
And similar questions you need to answer in order to start believing in yourself more than ever.
Final Thoughts!
Holistically speaking on behalf of all the above reasons, hard work and smartness is good, but the most thing that people often lack is consistency.
Consistency calls for persistence that every individual in the world needs to display, especially when it comes to achieving his/her goals and purpose in life.
You might be genuinely venturing with pure hard work and determination, but if success is not your cup of tea until now, then its time you surely make it.
Author Bio
Cruz Juddy is a content writer living in the USA. She is working g Writing agency. Her also help Behind Write My Paper for online Assignment Writing Services student Write My Assignment. She also loves traveling and Writing Cheap Essay Writing Service. She has managed wholly the content writing team successfully.
