Ep 150 | The 8 Truths & Lies of Success

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Let's get into it. Today I want to talk about success. I want to talk about success. What I want to cover are the 8 lies and truths to success. The 8 lies and truths to success. These are items that I've written down, things that I've jotted down around the lies that I found as it pertains to success, and then the truths actually behind those lies, right? Or alongside those lies. So, so let's start and you'll see what I mean. Okay. First lie of success: things will get easier. Things will get easier. The truth is that some things get easier. Okay? So the lie, things will get easier. What I'm really saying is on this path to success, on this journey, uh, sometimes we talk ourselves into believing that if I keep pushing, if I keep pushing, if I could just get over this hump, things are going to be easier. And you know what? Sometimes that's true. The truth here is actually some things do get easier. But some things don't get easier. And it's a grind, and it's going to be indefinitely. So in my opinion, as it pertains to success, the quicker you can get your head around the fact that not all things are going to get easier in time— hell, they may even get harder on this, this path to success, maybe because you've moved the goalposts, or you've changed the, changed the desired outcome. Things don't always get easier. The next lie: I can count on blank because he or she or it has come through before. The lie is, I can count on blank because this person or it has come through before. The truth is that while track record is definitely valuable, People change, systems change, systems become outdated, systems become obsolete. So if you've counted on someone before, it's not to say they're not still a great person, but if you've counted on someone before in a specific role or in a specific opportunity that, that turned out to be successful, he or she has a solid track record. So maybe they're worth considering. On this new venture, this new path towards success. But it doesn't— it certainly doesn't guarantee they're going to come through. Because again, people change, lives change. And then as it pertains to systems, I mean, hell, this world is evolving rather quickly. If you have a method or a strategy or a model or a system, yeah, it could, it could come through for you again, but it also may be outdated or obsolete. The third lie People follow success. People follow success. The truth here is success is comforting and it's attractive, but it's not what people follow. It might, it might get you a meeting, it might get you in the door, or it might attract them to you— success— but it's typically just an entry point because people follow great leadership and they follow a compelling vision. So the lie, lie is people follow success. The truth is success is comforting and attractive, but people follow vision. They follow leadership. The fourth lie: if I can do this, I can do that. Full transparency here, I think I violated this, this rule many a time. The lie of success: if I can do this, I can do that. The reality, the truth: success in one field or in one venture does not mean success in another. Because you've excelled at one thing, it does not mean that you are guaranteed success in another. A really, really simple example of this: I've seen many a successful salesperson that just, you know, just crushes it. I've seen that individual promoted to a manager role, a leadership role, and they flounder, or they're just rather average. And why is that? You think, well, they were successful as a salesperson. They should be successful in this management role. And what they discover is it's a different skillset. So success in one venture or field is not guaranteed success in another. Lie number 5, people are listening to me. And the truth? Nah, people aren't necessarily listening to you. Many people hear the noise, the noise that you're making. But fewer are actually listening than you realize. So people may hear the chatter, they may hear the noise, but they're not actually listening. So a lie of success: people are listening to me. No, not necessarily. Next lie of success: it's all good now. It's all good now. We are safe. The truth: nah, you may be safer in the moment, But a healthy paranoia makes for a great businessman or businesswoman. So the lie, it's all good now, we're safe. And the reality, the truth, now you may be safer in this moment, but a healthy paranoia is necessary. I'm not saying always be on edge. I'm just saying never get too comfortable. Next lie of success, kind of in line with the last one we just said. The lie is we are winning. Now don't get me wrong. There are times when it's very clear you're winning, but the lie in success, we are winning. The truth is maybe, but perspective matters. Perspective matters. And maybe one, one way to look at this, or one example, how many times have you heard the phrase winning the battle, but losing the war? Right? So when you say we are winning, maybe you're winning an aspect or an element or an angle or a day or a week even in terms of what it is you're aiming to accomplish. But your perspective matters and you may not actually be winning. Uh, it just may be short, short-lived. The last lie of success. This is one I recently wrote down. This wasn't on my original list, but the last lie of success, most anything that starts with the phrase, I'm too, so I'm like, I am too, T-O-O, most anything that starts with the phrase, I'm too, or it's too, they're lies. I'll give you an example. I'm too old. It's too late. It's too challenging. I'm too good for this. As it pertains to success, most anything that starts with I'm too or it's too is a lie. The truth is that it's never too late to start, that it's never too challenging. There's always opportunity. You certainly are never too good for whatever it may be. You know, especially right now where, where we're saying, hey, the economy, the market's going to be more challenging. You are not too good to pick up that, that, that broom and become the janitor if that's what's necessary. So I, you know, this, this list of lies and truths as it pertains to success, there's, there's a ton more. There's probably many that are not on this list that you in fact would have on your list. But I, I wanted to give you this list I've been jotting down. You know, this is just something I, you know, if I think of something that deserves to be on this list, I put it down and I think around what's the lie, how, what's the misperception or how are we misunderstanding something and what's the truth behind that. Hopefully you got something out of this list. My question for you today, or the focusing question for you today, you know, which of these apply to your world and what possibly is not on this list that you've found to be a lie of success? And what is, what is the truth to success that would counter that lie? Just a fun list, something to think around, get your mind working today. That's all we have for today. The No Days Off podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it. [MUSIC] [MUSIC]