Special Report

A wise man once said “I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, luckier I get.”

I am sure you’ve heard of this saying a number of times in the past. It’s usually quoted by those who belong to the meritocratic school of thought which says, “If you’re good, you don’t need luck.”

If you’re successful it’s a natural human tendency to assume the credit for your success. After all you must have worked hard for it and you surely deserve it. But when I think of my life, I have seen and met many individuals who always worked harder and yet they sadly remain unsuccessful.

Goes with saying that I have also met those who achieved great heights with significantly less effort. These are the people who manage to attract much more than their fair share of luck. Usually we look down on such people with disdain. It’s assumed that any success founded on element of luck is inherently undeserving.

Do you know someone who always manages to find himself in the right place at the right time? Before you label him as lucky, ask yourself – do you think his luck is out of pure randomness? May be he has a knack for reaching to the right place at the right time.

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Everyone knows about the life of Bill Gates and the success story of Microsoft but very few know about Bill’s another trait that has played an important role in making Microsoft what it is today. Bill Gates used to work with so much intensity for such lengths during his initial years while building their first product that he would often collapse into sleep on his keyboard in the middle of writing a line of code. This is the trait, a unique tendency to focus deeply on his work, which differentiated Gates from his contemporaries. Gates is also known to go for retreats twice a year which he calls “Think Weeks”, during which he isolates himself to do nothing but read and think big thoughts.

It’s this ability to do Deep Work that Cal Newport’s book, with the same title, is all about. The two most voracious readers of our times, Ryan Holiday and Shane Parrish. The two most voracious readers of our times, Ryan Holiday and Shane Parrish, have both recommended this new book. So goes without saying that it’s a must read.
[Read more…] about BookWorm: Deep Work

The speaker had a charisma. He was smooth, articulate and delivered a very entertaining speech. The audience were spell bound while he was speaking. A perfect ten on ten.

Here’s the rub. When the audience were surveyed about how much they remembered from our star speaker’s speech, most of them couldn’t recall much. All they remembered that the guy was good.

What a waste of time and effort for both speaker and audience, unless it was a stand-up comedy show where the audience just wanted pure entertainment and then forget everything the next day.

In today’s knowledge economy, what’s more important than ideas? It’s an ability to execute those ideas. But there is another critical piece of puzzle, especially when you are working with a team, which is how sticky your idea is in other’s minds.

“Sticky” is a metaphor to emphasize that your ideas are understood and remembered, and have a lasting impact. A sticky idea changes your audience’s opinions and behaviour. Your ability to add value or bring any meaningful change is determined by your ability to make your ideas stick.

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