[Note: I'm resisting the urge to put "back up early and often" as number 1 as I had this entire post written last night in TextMate and my MacBook experienced a kernel panic... So now I'm back to Google Docs...]
Scott "Dangerously Irrelevant" McLeod tagged me with the Secret of My Success meme which, admittedly, I thought was some kind of Michael J. Fox tribute. Turns out it all started here.
But me? I’m barely a third of the way into my career, and though I’m happy with how everything is going, I would never have thought of myself as "successful" as in "share-how-you’ve-achieved-a-successful-life-with-the-rest-of-the-world" successful. But in the spirit of share and share alike, I’ll share some things that work for me…
- I take my work and my studies seriously, but not myself. I often hear people say, "In X years, we’ll all laugh about this…" Well why not now? Life is short so if there’s an opportunity to laugh – even if it’s at myself — I’m going to take it. For inspiration, check out Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff – and it’s all small stuff by Richard Carlson. It’s a great summer read.
- Habit 3: Put first things first. Not to get too Covey, but this is an important one. Forget the Quadrants and all the other deep, philosophical stuff and just remember to prioritize, organize, and have the discipline to get it done. Sometimes that means taking one of my discretionary days when my daughter has a doctor’s appointment and there’s no one to watch our son. Sometimes that means staying out late to chaperone the prom. And sometimes that means missing a new episode of LOST to lay down with my son until he falls asleep.
- I know my strengths AND my weaknesses.
I’m a work in progress. To pretend otherwise is ridiculous. I try to
spend time building my strengths and managing or improving on my
weaknesses. I’m good at making complex things simple for people to
understand and that’s a good quality to have when you’re working with
teachers. I’m also good at making simple things complex which is – well
- a less desirable trait. My wife will ask me to do something and
instead of doing what was obvious (to her) and probably simplest, I’ll
end up doing something completely convoluted that may or may not yield
similar results, but almost always yields incredible frustration.
Usually for her.
- The glass is half full. It drives some people crazy, but I always try to find the good in every person and every situation. Try it. It’s not as hard as it sounds.
- I have a lot of varied interests. I’m into hiking, biking, photography, music, playing guitar, gadgets, fly fishing – and that’s just what came to mind as I type this. This past winter I tried snowshoeing (partially out of necessity since it was the only way to get to the mailbox for about 2 weeks in January…), and when my son turns 3 we’re going to try skiing. Now that I live in a place with mountains, I think I’d like to try rock climbing and maybe kayaking. And I love, love, love that my son is getting to the age where he can enjoy these things with me.
- I’m a lifelong learner. When I told people I was going back for my Ph.D., reactions were varied. My wife is amazingly supportive (since she’s the one who’ll have to shoulder most of the burden of 2 kids while I’m in class that’s pretty impressive!) as are my parents and most of my colleagues, but from some I’ve gotten comments like, "Why would you ever want to do that? You won’t make any more money." My response is usually that if you have to ask you wouldn’t understand.
- Making the most of technology! I have to agree with Scott on this one. Meeting new people in the blogosphere, keeping in touch with our families back in Florida… And that’s only the beginning. Who would have thought when I traded in my pager (I was so cool!) for my first cell phone in 1996 ($35 a month for 15 anytime minutes, baby!) that eventually I’d be toting a phone with more memory and a faster processor than my first PC (An IBM 486 running at 25 MHz with 2 MB of RAM and a 40 MB hard drive. Oh and a modem at 9600 baud.), a better camera that my first digital camera (that one I paid $900 for), and constant access to my email?
So that’s my list. Pretty close to what I think I typed the first time. Thanks for the tag, Scott. I’m going to pass it along to another great guy I met in the blogosphere: Brett Kelly. Brett’s got a great blog and a growing family so hopefully between blog posts and an impending birth, he’ll have some time to chime in here…
Scott,
After reading well over one hundred entries to the Simply Successful Secrets project, I always love when a list leaves a smile on my face, such as yours did.
Concepts like sharing your interests with your son, continuing your education just because you feel strongly about doing so, and having a “the glass is always half full” attitude are certainly large steps in a successful direction.
Success, of course, being defined as being HAPPY, because – at least in my opinion – being happy is the ultimate measure of success!
Thanks again for participating, Scott!
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Scott, a work in progress is a good thing to be. And it’s great that you’re aware of your strengths and weaknesses. I think most people are a little lopsided in their assesments. I’m one of those who doesn’t recognize a strength as being something special; it seems to me that everyone can do what I can do.
And, by the way, just because you haven’t reached the top of the mountain yet doesn’t mean you’re not a successful climber. Go ahead. Think of yourself as a success.