This article reminded me of something I've been meaning to post about, which is benchmarking others to guide your...

This article reminded me of something I've been meaning to post about, which is benchmarking others to guide your own success. There are some clear do's and some clear don'ts.

When thinking about your future, be it a personal goal, a lifestyle, or a career path...

DO: Find those who have become successful in a way that you value and try to determine what they did and what resources they had access to. The more people you can study, the more you can identify those elements that are essential (or even just really helpful) to success in that path. They can also sometimes act as mentors or help introduce you to the inner workings of that environment. That said...

DO NOT: Try to replicate exactly, or even closely, the success paths of others. Other people are systematically different from you. In terms of their strengths, their assets, their situations, and their personal objectives, they are not you. Replicating the decisions they made, from career choices to tattoos, is unlikely to create the same kind of success for you that they enjoy. And...

DO NOT: Only pick the most famous or those paragons of success we usually hear about. Emulating Steve Jobs or Elon Musk isn't likely to get you even close to the same level of success they had. Find other people, closer and more accessible to you, that you can study.

DO: Keep track of your own strengths and assets and constantly evaluate where you need help or further development. Then seek out that personal growth to keep you progressing down your intended path. Sometimes, others help us identify things we not only don't know, but didn't even know we needed to.

DO NOT: Think that you're done. We all have the responsibility to keep improving, growing, and learning as individuals. What was important to your success five years ago may be somewhat, if not entirely, irrelevant next year. Society changes, industry changes, and we as individuals change. As you regularly update your personal objectives, you should regularly re-evaluate how able you are to achieve them. This is not a one-and-done process...it's a regular exercise that should be on your yearly to-do list. Finally...

DO: Focus on things that are important, make a positive difference, and make you happy. As you get older, you'll likely understand both what makes you happy and what society needs better than you did when you were younger. That's an opportunity for re-evaluating your goals and the paths you've been following to achieve them.
https://medium.com/the-mission/7-reasons-why-smart-hardworking-people-dont-become-successful-fbb2f27eed44