Most people are looking for the secret to success; the secret to being a millionaire; the secret to winning at working. To help them find it, Amazon.com currently inventories 1,797 books promising success secrets, everything from “Mustang Sallies: Success Secrets of Women Who Refuse to Run With the Herd” to “The 21 Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires.”
So, if you’re one of those looking, I’ll save you some time. The bottom line is this – there is no secret. There’s no magical formula to follow; no short-cuts to take or lottery tickets you can purchase. People who are winning at working know it takes persistence, determination, commitment, passion, practice, focus and hard work. There are no secrets to any of that. Just look around.
Take Chester Carlson. Chester became a rich man as the successful inventor of an electrostatic paper-copying process that later became the Xerox Corporation, even though twenty corporations rejected his idea. It took Chester seven years of persistence and determination before he found one tiny company willing to purchase his invention.
Or take Julia Child. After receiving a contract...