One Little Switch That Will Make You More Successful

Lately, for some reason, Robert Greene‘s work keeps surfacing in my life. Everywhere I go it’s like one of his books pops out at me, so I’m beginning to take notice. Robert Greene has done a lot of writing about human psychological behavior — he’s the author of a few books on the subject, including 48 Laws of Power and Mastery. Some of his work is controversial — I think that’s why I’ve been drawn to it. The minute I hear something’s controversial I know I gotta dig in. :) So I’ve been tiptoeing around the edges of it, I guess.

Today I had an hour or so of free time in between appointments in Manhattan and I decided to sit down at a little cafe in the west village, have an almond milk latte and people watch. I somehow ended up listening to a Robert Greene audio file on my phone while I sat there, I figured that would make me more productive (#virgo). One tidbit stood out to me so much, I texted some of my friends with this quote.

Robert was talking about work and how to become a master at what you love. To paraphrase, he said:

Are you worried about your ego or are you excited about success? What’s more important to you – learning and getting better, or your miserable little ego? If you’re thinking about your skill and learning – if you’re focused on that instead of on your insecurities, it’s a different philosophy of life.

If you can make this one little switch — to think more about your work and your skill than your ego and insecurities, it’s going to make a huge difference in your success. That level of inner strength and persistence – if you have it, there’s nothing that’s gonna stop you.

YO. Ok. So what does this mean? It’s not as easy as it sounds, I know. But to me, this means that I’m a writer and to be successful my focus is on my craft of writing and producing and creating. If I’m more focused on what people are going to think of me, whether or not people are going to like my blogs, how many likes I’m gonna get on facebook, or if you guys are gonna think I’m a complete mental patient…if I make this all about me instead of about the work – well then, I’ll be seriously creatively blocked and I’ll produce much less.

If I focus on the fact that I’ve been given a gift, a talent, a drive to write, and it’s my obligation to create, to share, to fail, to learn from my experiences and my setbacks and to get better as I go along — well…that’s a totally different ball game.

Bottom line: show your insecurities the door and just freaking CREATE. Like I said, easier said than done, but to set the intention to do this is really powerful. ROBERT GREENE YOU’RE ONTO SOMETHING.

What does this mean for you? Does this concept hit you like it hit me? Share in the comments. 

Want more? I do.

 

Game on.