5 Reasons Why You Are Not Successful.

Success comes to those who are smart and hardworking

Today I'm going to break this myth. I totally disagree that success comes to those who are smart and hardworking. Many worldwide studies, researchers, and even successful people say that you don't need to be smart and intelligent in your school, college, or job to be successful.

You must know Nikola Tesla, he was one of the geniuses in history who revolutionized the world with his inventions. But even being a very smart and hardworking person. Unfortunately, he didn't get the success he deserved. In fact, he died at the age of 86 being poor in the New York hotel room.

So it doesn't mean that if you're smart and hardworking you'll get success and you'll be rich. Even today, many smart and hardworking people are stuck in jobs and corporates. You may also have heard about people that seemed ordinary, not necessarily smart, still later in life, they become successful and rich.

However, this is not the case with all the ordinary people who are smart and intelligent because the truth is smartness doesn't define your success.

Now the question comes if success doesn't come from being smart and hardworking, then how do you get success? What are those essential qualities required? Why do most people, even being smart and hardworking can never achieve wealth in their life?

1. They are good at everything

Those who are smart and hardworking think they can do anything. They just need to do a little more hard work, which is why they cannot stick to one thing consistently for a long time.

For example: In a class, there are two students A and B. Student A has achieved 80-95 marks in all the subjects, whereas student B has achieved less than 40% marks in most of the subjects and even failed in one subject, but he achieved full marks in his favorite subject.

Still, our society will generally favor student A, making him believe that he can do anything and choose any career path. Whatever he chooses, he will get success.

With this mentality, he keeps working hard but cannot stay at one particular thing for a long time.

He thinks he is good with everything, and it is actually true that he is good with many things, but he is not best at anything.

Like an American poet, Sylvia Plath says, "Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything it is because we are dangerously close to wanting nothing."

2. They don't take bigger risks

Jeff Bezos once said he was wasting his important skills in a safe and secure job at an investment firm.

Then Jeff used something called the "Regret minimization framework," which changed his entire life.

He thought at the age of 80 when he would look back into his life, would he regret creating his own company even if it fails? The answer was NO. Whereas if he kept working in his secure job and did not start his own company, would he regret this decision? The answer was YES.

That single decision was the game-changing decision in his life. Later he resigned from his job and started amazon, and everybody knows today amazon is one of the biggest companies.

You see, Jeff was smart working in a job, and even now working for his own company, he is smart. The only difference is that the company would benefit from Jeff's smartness when working in the job. Now he is benefiting himself with his smartness. He understood at the right time and did not get stuck in a trap.

The bitter fact is that many people who are smart in school and colleges have the habit of following rules. They focus on doing what is safe and secure.

They fear of taking risks as their family, friends, and society have the expectation of them. Their college and school grades give them a good image. They protect and carry on that image their entire life. That is why they settle for a mediocre life in the long run. To do something extraordinary, you need to take the risk, and by risk, I mean calculated risk.

3. They think their credentials are a blueprint of their success

Most intelligent people entitle themselves with their achievements. You must have heard something like "I'm from this college so i deserve this," "I'm topper of my class," and so on.

This is true that they are intelligent and work really hard, but they try to chase success based on their credentials and fail miserably.

Especially in today's fast-changing world wherein the last 25 years, more than 50% of new jobs have been created. And for today's high demanding jobs, you don't need a college degree; you just need skills.

Mark Twain says, "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."

You should never entitle yourself to your school or college credentials and don't limit your learning until your school or college. Be a lifelong learner and live your life with a learning mindset.

As Warren Buffet says, "The more you learn the more you'll earn."

4. They don't go out of their comfort zone

Professional psychologists say that when you stay in a fixed environment for a long time, you develop a fixed mindset. You fix certain patterns, behavior, and people. Since there is nothing new in your everyday routine, you develop a fixed mindset.

In your comfort zone, nothing excites you anymore. You start living your life with a conservative view where you don't grow outside your comfort zone. So when you face with some problem outside your comfort zone, either you cannot solve it or take too much time.

For example, You never worked, you went to school and then college thinking you'll start working after all studies are complete. Since your end goal was to work, why didn't you teach yourself how to work. And then, when you enter the corporate world, you face many difficulties.

So remember, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, keep learning something new, so you get out of your comfort zone and always push your limits.

5. They don't believe in their capabilities

Smart people are much more self-critical. You must have seen people who get 98% marks still gets depressed because maybe they deserve more.

But most of the time when you chase perfection, you start overthinking and self-doubt your own abilities. You start developing a negative self-image about yourself, which also affects your future decisions.

If you ever fail in a race and start saying that "you're not a good runner," your mind will accept that even if you've finished second.

Most smart people start comparing their intelligence with others and get into self-doubt, which starts affecting their own success. So these are some of the reasons why you cannot achieve success despite being smart and hardworking.

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