Success Is Simple When You Let It Happen

Recently I was interviewed by Rocky Buckley, a strategic business coach and creator of the Power Persona Project. We discussed an aspect of success that I wish I could give to everyone: the concept of a positive temperament or mental state. So I decided to share the conversation.

Rocky: Is success simpler or more complex than people think?

Rob: It’s simple if you enjoy what you’re doing, and then no problem seems too big, complex, or insurmountable.

Rocky: How does enjoyment connect to simplicity? Not quite getting that.

Rob: It’s my opinion that if you love what you’re doing, you don’t notice any complexity.

Resistance creates conflict, which creates complexity

Rocky: OK, so it’s more about perception and flow than anything else?

Rob: Yes, state of consciousness is everything; it is self-efficacy combined with a positive mental attitude. You know how you feel when you’re on a roll—in the zone—when you can’t do anything wrong? You’re creating no resistance; resistance creates conflict, which creates complexity.

Have you ever been in an extreme hurry, and you’re running out of time, and suddenly, with things you’ve done flawlessly for years, you start making mistakes? This puts you further behind; frustration starts to build, and the errors and irritation begin to snowball. That’s the moment you need to pause, take a deep breath and regroup, and then go back to your tasks.

Sure, there are businesses that have many moving parts—hence complex—but they don’t all have to be perfect at once. I always encourage people who have a business idea to get started on it even if they don’t know everything yet. You’ll learn as you go along. And, yeah, sometimes it’s painful to watch as they stumble along, but if they have heart and enthusiasm, you cheer them on anyway. If you wait until you have all your ducks in a row, you may never get started.

Resistance makes the journey difficult

Rocky: Right, I guess the question is, how simple or complex is it to get into the frame of mind, state of being, that you’re describing? It seems as if you’re describing what it feels like after you’ve figured it out.

Rob: On the contrary, I’m talking about how it feels when you begin. If you’re passionate about achieving something, all the obstacles are just parts of the journey. And, you want the obstacles; you enjoy overcoming them.

As an example, some mountain-biking courses have all sorts of physical obstacles: log piles, rock piles, narrow bridges, dirt humps, and lots of tree roots. I’ve even seen a seesaw. If you start mountain biking and enjoy the trail riding, eventually you’ll want to work on your technical skills, and you start to tackle riding over the obstacles. Of course, you can go around them until you’re ready. Developing the skill to ride over the obstacles is part of the journey, part of the joy of mountain biking. The success of getting there, building the know-how, is the end of the journey. If you aren’t enjoying a pursuit, you aren’t going to stay with it, and if you do stay with it, the journey is going to be difficult and seem much more complex—because of your mental resistance to it—than it would be to someone who desires and enjoys it.

Passion creates the appetite to learn

Rocky: That makes a lot of sense to me, and I can see how simplicity could be derived from this combination of factors.

Rob: One last note. I’ve taken on many pursuits not because I was interested in them, but because it pleased someone else. These never worked out well for me, seemed overly complex, and typically ended up in failure. I’ve even had family members work to block me or dissuade me from pursuing things that I loved—especially when it came to being a professional writer.

I don’t recall that happening when I decided to become a professional speaker. I was much older, more mature, and had achieved success as a writer, so I believed in myself enough that I could make it as a paid speaker.

It was a journey that had been brewing under the surface of my consciousness for years, and I recall the moment it crystallized: I saw Patty Kitching deliver the keynote speech to the closing ceremony of a Hugh O’Brian Youth Foundation leadership retreat. She was funny, entertaining, and informative, and I couldn’t get over how much fun she was clearly having in giving that speech. When she finished, I turned to my wife and said, “I can do that. I want to do that!”

That was the beginning of my conscious journey. I wouldn’t make my first professional speech until six years later. I had a lot of learning to do, and I needed to discover a market—all of which came together in time. I didn’t see it as complex, although it may have been. I was hungry for the how-to knowledge and pursued it actively and enthusiastically, and 29 years later, the journey continues. When your desire is strong enough, the universe lines everything up for you and keeps it simple.

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