Your Personal Achievement Survival Guide

Personal achievement is often difficult because so few people are interested in it.

When you want to achieve wonderful things, extraordinary things, it’s difficult to find much support, emotional or otherwise, from most of the people in your life.

Whether it is becoming an artist, musician, writer, inventor, scientist, athlete, or pursuing any other passion that fills you with fire, you will often find that you have to motivate yourself, ignore an inclement environment, and persist through your own errors.

Few people are interested in doing more than necessary to live. They consider having a job, participating in a family, and partaking in social events the whole of life. Someone who seeks excellence in anything other than these common preoccupations is often considered an anomaly in the world.

Despite propaganda to the contrary, most societies repress creativity and self-expression, leaning more toward domination and subjugation of exceptional talent. Glancing over the recorded history of the world, we see the Classical Age of Ancient Greece and the Renaissance of Europe as anomalies. Seldom has widespread genius and a will for excellence been encouraged.

This cultural repression of personal achievement, rooted in antiquity, makes you feel awkward should you desire more self-expression. Not only do you not fit in, but you also succumb to the apathy, even scorn, of those around you. In your heart, you know that if you could only find one or two like-minded people, you would soar. Being with kindred spirits would fill you with enthusiasm, doubling your energy, creativity, and insights.

What makes the world work is the constant stream of innovations and examples of excellence--yet the general configuration of most social structures is to curb these very impulses. Rarely is the person alive with initiative given the opportunity to express himself or herself as they would like.

The tragic life of William James Sidis, who had an estimated IQ of 250-300, and is often considered one of the most intelligent people in the history of the world is an example of someone who was stymied by the provincial attitudes of the people around him.

Sidis entered Harvard at the age of 11 years old, lectured at the Harvard Mathematical Club on four dimensional bodies a year later, and graduated with a Bachelors Degree Cum Laude at age 16. Although MIT professor Daniel F. Comstock predicted he would be a great mathematician and scientist, his life never matched his promise. Instead, he was persecuted by the press who accused him of being a pedant, a crammer, and a freak. Even the United States Court of Appeals refused to allow him relief from their harassment and invasion of privacy. Inevitably, he took refuge in anonymity and obscure employment. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Boston at the age of 46.

Similarly, Nicholas Tesla, who was perhaps the greatest inventor in the history of electronics, died alone and penniless in a hotel room after a hard life. He was so brilliant, with ideas so far ahead of his time, that he was often considered insane. Although in his early years, he dazzled the world with his inventions, his fate was sealed when he discovered free electrical energy that could power the entire planet. The financier, J.P. Morgan, irate at the idea that Tesla had not attached a meter to his device, made sure the word was out that he would never again get funds to invent anything again.

However, despite many tragic stories like these, greatness still has been possible. Through stubborn resolve, history, fortunately, also records the stories of those who excelled despite the fact that they were exceptionally talented, willful and visionary.

How, then, does one strive for excellence in a world that appears to love the mundane, the mediocre, the monotonous and shuns or even lampoons the bright, the industrious, the forward-thinking?

Here are seven critical skills you need to develop if you wish to soar, rather than compromise your inner value and curb your interests to fit in with the low standards that most people set for themselves.

Personal Achievement Survival Strategy #1: Set Clear Goals

While you may not know how to get to where you want to go, unless you know where you’re heading, you’ll never get there. Simply by choosing a direction, you begin the process of moving toward it. Your intent creates the serendipity and synchronicity to create a way. Intent can create a way where there is no way. It can open a door where you see only a wall.

Personal Achievement Survival Strategy #2: Make A Plan

Any plan is better than no plan. Your plan should be considered a work-in-progress. Your first, rudimentary plan will evolve as you learn more about what to do and where to look for more opportunity.

Personal Achievement Survival Strategy #3: Overcome Obstacles

Mistakes are inevitable as you take action on your plan. They arise because you are in the process of exploring, learning, trying out new things. Choose to believe in yourself evenif people are not receptive to your ideas and few opportunities appear available. Instead of feeling discouraged, carry on learning, growing, and trying different strategies.

Personal Achievement Survival Strategy #4: Commit To Persist

Since mistakes and obstacles are part of the journey of personal achievement, your will is the only thing stopping you from complete failure. While most people are afraid to try new things and while most stop at the first few signs of resistance, you must develop the attitude that you will never, ever give in.

Personal Achievement Survival Strategy #5: Seek Allies

Although you may find yourself alone as you undertake your mission, you will, if you look, find allies. They can be books, they can be lectures, and they can be friends. However you can, in whatever way you can, seek the assistance of those who can support your quest.

Personal Achievement Survival Strategy #6: Celebrate Small Wins

Success is seldom the sudden manifestation of everything coming together at the right time and place. More often it is the accumulation of small wins, insignificant in themselves but mighty over time. Noticing and appreciating these small wins will encourage you when it seems that you’re not making any progress.

Personal Achievement Survival Strategy #7: Journal Your Progress

Journaling is reviewing what you have done. It is also a place to rehearse your options, helping you decide where you want to go. By not keeping a journal you can easily lose track of your progress and give up just before you had your biggest breakthrough. When you journal, you keep your focus on what you love to do.

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