Think about the high achievers you know or know about. What is the one trait that you think about immediately?
I bet it is that they are driven.
Achievers are driven people. They are passionate about what they are doing. They know where they are headed. Even if they don’t know exactly how they will get there yet, you can bet they are making the plans right now. They not only are passionate and driven, they really and truly know they will achieve what they are after. They are focused and purposeful.
This short, and admittedly incomplete, description of achievers describes two types of achievers. The jerks and the truly successful in life.
The jerks are the ones that are narcissists and are only out for themselves. They worship money, things and themselves above all else. They don’t care what happens to you as long as they get what they want. It’s every man for himself and to hell with everyone else. Yet, somehow this kind of person often succeeds materially to levels most only dream about. Ruthlessness often rewards one with results in this way.
The truly successful on the other hand recognize that no man is an island. We all affect others and are affected by them. People are social in that we generally like and seek out the company of others. We build relationships and we create trust between us. The person who is an achiever and recognizes this leads a different type of life. They have values and goals that include others, affect them for the better and reflect the truth that people are more important than things.
The truly successful may or may not achieve dizzying heights of financial success. They often don’t keep score that way. What they do achieve is dizzying heights of personal impact on others. They bring others along with them on their way to success. They are concerned for customers, employees and suppliers all. They believe friends and families are better than work and the deal of the day.
That said, it doesn’t mean only the jerks achieve the most or that the truly successful are limited in their possibilities. Either type can be a super achiever or a super loser or a middle of the road achiever. The real thing that separates them is their Purpose, or their Why.
Your Purpose is what motivates you and what informs your actions, methods and plans for achievement. The jerk’s purpose is exalting himself. The truly successful’s purpose is about creating a better world than the one they came into. That’s what separates the truly successful from the others.
