One thing he discussed today that I thought was interesting was talking about success. One of the books talks about the idea of success. We all think that successful people work hard for everything they get and they are smart about what they do. We think unsuccessful people could have done more, could have tried harder or longer. Well, thats really not all that goes into it. His example from the book is that among the most successful hockey players, a large portion of them were born in January, February, or March. Why?
Well in Canada, kids hockey leagues age cut offs are January 1st. So the kids born in January of one year are bigger, stronger, and more developed then kids in their league who were born in say October or November. This is especially true because they start hockey leagues in Canada at what, four or five? Thats a huge difference in development at that age. So these kids are better when they are five years old, so what? Well since they are better are knocking kids around, more people notice. As a result, they get more praise, more encouragement, and more attention over time. Their parents or coaches try to ensure they are given good opportunities specifically because they show strength. Yes someone's hockey talent has a great deal to do with their abilities, and I'm not saying its a bad thing to encourage those kids. I'm just saying, its not all about how hard that one person works or how talented they are naturally. Take into consideration how likely someone from the Southwestern US is to be as good as that guy from Canada. A lot of success has to do with surrounding, being in the right place at the right time, doing the right networking, and some things even come down to luck.
I think that is pretty damn interesting. I think its partially interesting to me because it reassures me that maybe its not my fault. I always feel like I'm not doing enough or working hard enough to be great. I think its something that happens to smart kids. People praise you and expect you to do great things. And I want to do great things, I aim highly. But can I get there? I will always doubt myself, but I don't want to get my hopes up when it comes to my career.