3 beliefs you’re probably getting wrong about success

By Ngere Ify Davies On Feb 4, 2019

There are certain principles we all believe can guide us to success. Setting goals and working towards the goals with determination are part of the universal rules of success.

At the same time, there is success advice that sounds candid and seem to make lot of sense but when put into practice, it backfires.

It is therefore important that you are aware of these beliefs to avoid taking them seriously.

1.   Follow your passion and you’ll be successful

If this sounds like what you’ve heard before, you probably have. It is a common career and success advice people always find easy to offer and it does sound like it makes a lot of sense right? Well, it may be true for some people, but doing what you love does not always translate to success.

For instance, if you love doing something and there is no market for neither the skill nor the product, how would it bring success? Instead of focusing solely on doing what you love, look through your skill set, assess yourself, you may find else you nearly like as much, develop yourself in that area and go on to excel. Remember there are many career options out there, so never be afraid to abandon something you love doing for the one that has a potential to give you success.

2.   You have to be a workaholic to achieve your dreams

You’ve heard this too before. Being a workaholic is believed to be a good quality of achievers, an admirable trait everyone needs to have to succeed. If you believe this, you’ll most likely make it impossible for yourself to succeed in whatever you do because you’ll definitely set the bar too high.

You’ll be prompted to pressure yourself to work harder, and the more pressure you put on yourself, the more difficult it is to focus, and at the end of the day, you become stressed out, your productivity reduces and then your dream suffers because of your lack of energy to accomplish it.

3.   Expensive education guarantees success

This belief is like a code written in our hearts. We all believe that expensive education jump starts ones success. We also believe that the more renowned the school, the better your chances for success.

However, tertiary education is a luxury a lot of family cannot afford, and there are people who can afford it but don’t subscribe to it. Does it mean these set of people are doomed to an unsuccessful life? Absolutely not. Education can come in many forms and it is not the only path to success.