By Guerilla Billionaire

 

Malcolm Gladwell has a new book out titled Outliers: The Story of Success. What inspired the latest book?

“I’ve always been drawn to those who are exceptional or weird in some way,” he says, “and the book is about people whose achievement exceeds every expectation.”

So what are some of the key lessons on success presented in the book? Well, a big one is that there’s really no such thing as overnight success. In other words, don’t hold your breathe waiting to be discovered:

RD: Is there such a thing as an overnight success?

Gladwell: No. And that’s my concern with a show like American Idol. It encourages the false belief that there’s a kind of magic, that you can be “discovered.” That may be the way television works, but it’s not the way the world works. Rising to the top of any field requires an enormous amount of dedication, focus, drive, talent, and 99 factors that they don’t show on television. It’s not simply about being picked. Which, by the way, is why very few of the anointed winners on American Idol have gone on to true success. Most have flamed out and gone away. That should tell us something. (source)

Here are his 5 Steps to Success:

1. Find meaning and inspiration in your work.

2. Work hard.

3. Discover the relationship between effort and reward.

4. Seek out complex work to avoid boredom and repetition.

5. Be autonomous and control your own destiny as much as possible.