President Calvin Coolidge said, “Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.”
The 30th President of the United States was saying talent is not rare, he was saying talent is the most common trait among failures.
He was also famous for saying: “nothing in the world can take the place of persistence”. Because persistence pays off, nothing difficult gets accomplished without persistence.
And you’ve got to be dumb to get good at something when everyone else is whole wide world is telling you to stop doing it. Heck, sometimes even your own ‘gut feeling’ is telling you to stop – and you’ve got to be dumb enough to persist anyway. That takes tenacity and good old fashioned stubborn stupidity to push forward when everyone else say to quit.
Imagine, if all the inventors would’ve listened to what we’re always told, they would’ve quit before they ever started.
Luckily, they didn’t. Why? Because you’ve got to have a plain dumb stubbornness to quit in place before you start if you want to succeed.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying to not listen to reason. And I’m certainly not saying to pour your life savings into a hair-brained scheme. What I am saying is, you’ve got to march to the beat of your own drummer if you want to succeed in business.
You’ve got to be dumb, or play dumb, to the negativity and the sheer odds stacked against you if you plan on succeeding. Think of all the odds you’ve beaten to get to this very moment right now – you’re amazing!
So forget listening to what we’re always told to do (which is stop, get back in line and follow the leader), it impedes your ability to explore what’s possible.
By now, you’ve most likely figured out by “dumb” I mean determined.
Read:
Let’s find out if you’re dumb enough to be successful.
- When your friends end their nine to five workday and head out to the bar, are you excited to get working on your side-hustle?
2. Are you the type that thinks “there’s only 40 hours in a work-week and 48 hours in a weekend… for me to build my empire.”
3. Do you believe in yourself, your ideas and see the value others may miss?
4. You’re willing to work harder than any of your friends now so you can enjoy the entrepreneur lifestyle later.
5. You know you can start with zero dollars and an idea – and then make a million dollars (or at least you hope you can because you’ve seen others do it before).
6. You take on so many tasks you could be a juggler, but you remain focused on your one thing.
7. Your friends and family feel you should quit your “silly pipe-dream” and stick to your day job.
If any or all the above statements sound like you, then you’re going to enjoy the following three tips.
Three dumb ways to be successful in business
These tips will help you focus more on your business and ignore all the naysayers.
1. Follow a proven formula
Smart people think they need to reinvent the wheel. Guess what? You don’t (and you shouldn’t).
You only need to offer something you know people already want. A proven seller. Think how can I make it easier, better, faster, etc.
2. Go deep, not wide
Instead of reading 100 great business books one time each, read 10 great business books 10 times each. Think of how “deep” you’ll know the subject matter versus much subject matter you’ll know.
3. Don’t overthink it
Dumb people know everyone makes mistakes and go for it! They go for it now – put out your best work, and realise you’ll be making it even better later.
Smart people tend to overthink everything and are often paralysed by prognosis.
Simple.
So let’s get you started, today.
Fair enough?