Success: When Preparation Meets Opportunity Meets the Family

I was first introduced to Malcolm Gladwell’s writing when I picked up a copy of Blink a couple years ago. I was hoping for a lesson in how to make quick decisions. But what I got was even better: a deeper appreciation for the intricacies of the human mind and its natural processes. With each new chapter, each new tidbit discussed, I was hooked, and I made a mental note to check out Gladwell’s other books in the future. That’s what brought me to Outliers: The Story of Success.

In Outliers, Gladwell challenges our taken for granted ideas about what success is. In a nutshell, the pervading message of the book is that success is not an accident, a lucky break, or merely someone overcoming the odds. Instead, success is the result of several predictable factors and circumstances and includes both extraordinary talent and extraordinary opportunities.

From the Beatles to Bill Gates, Gladwell shows us that those who are successful have several things in common. First, their stories reveal that excellence at a particular task requires a minimum level of practice: 10,000 hours, or about ten years.

“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good,” Gladwell writes. “It’s the thing you do that makes you good.” Practice really does make perfect.

These successful people were given an opportunity to work hard and they took it. But they also happened to be born at the right time, when “their extraordinary effort was rewarded by the rest of society.” They won the demographic lottery. So success was not just of their own making, but a product of the world in which they grew up.

Another common belief is that the higher your IQ, the smarter you are, the more successful you will be. But Outliers suggests that IQ is not the whole story and really, after a certain range (about 120, while the average is 100), additional IQ points don’t offer any real advantage. Practical intelligence—knowing how to ask for and get what you want—is just as important, if not more so. It’s knowledge that helps you read situations correctly and work them to your advantage.

Gladwell notes that, while IQ is basically a measure of an innate ability, social savvy is something that's learned. For example, the attitude of “entitlement”—of not being afraid to question authority and ask for what you want—is a common middle to upper-class attitude. This attitude is also what it takes to succeed in the modern world. Success, then, not only depends on hard work and opportunity, but also relies on lessons learned from our families:

“Successful people don’t do it alone. Where they come from matters. They’re products of particular places and environments.”

These cultural legacies are powerful, remaining throughout the generations. Gladwell’s discussion of the garment industry of the 1900s in New York city and rice farmers in Asia really brings this point home, illustrating how the ethic of hard work is passed on to future generations, and this attitude contributes to successful professionals.

“Success is a function of persistence and doggedness and the willingness to work hard.”

Often when we hear stories of success, they typically include the theme of triumph over adversity. Gladwell addresses this belief head on, noting that time and again, “what started out as adversity ended up being an opportunity.” The key is to seize the opportunities that come your way.

Simply put, the Coles Notes version of all this is basically:

Success = a large dose of hard work and persistence + a generous amount of social intelligence and know-how (thanks to cultural legacy) + a dash of the right opportunities + a dollop of pluck to seize those opportunities

While challenging the common beliefs about what contributes to an individual’s success, then, Outliers demonstrates how several forces are at play—both within an individual and without. In the process, Gladwell argues that society needs to provide opportunities for all to be successful, not just those with the right upbringing or advantages.

In knowing what it takes to be successful, I think we can all incorporate these lessons into our own lives. For me, Outliers is a strong reminder that diligence does pay off. The key is to remain persistent and be bold enough to take the chances that come your way.

[Image from here.]

Purpose Driven Living

You'd think that a book with the name The Purpose Driven Life: What Am I Here For? would deliver. This book, by Rick Warren, has sold millions of copies and is number one on Amazon's list of Religion & Spirituality books. After reading some reviews, and taking a look at an excerpt of the first few chapters from the author's website, I decided to give the book a whirl. And boy, am I glad I did.

From a young age, I've always had the sense that life is about more than what we can see right in front of us, more than this material world. I've also strongly felt that God has created each of us for a purpose, and that we are to love God by loving and serving those around us. I've recently come to realize that this conviction, this knowledge or wisdom, is a real gift. And while I may be struggling with the particulars of this purpose, I am not lost; I have a firm foundation to build from.

The Purpose Driven Life put to paper many of these feelings I've had about life's meaning, and as I read each chapter (one a day for 40 days, as the author recommends), I felt my spirit lifting. In this culture of ours, discussion of the true meaning of life is rare. We're constantly inundated with messages that tell us that material things are the key to happiness, that we should live it up, that we should do what we want, do what feels good. Finally, here's a book that reminds us what life is really about. (Though, of course, the Bible did it first.)

The book's organized by five general purposes of life, which Warren discusses in detail and relates to key Biblical passages:

Purpose #1: You were made for God's pleasure
Purpose #2: You were formed for God's family
Purpose #3: You were created to become like Christ
Purpose #4: You were shaped for serving God
Purpose #5: You were made for a mission

Each chapter has a point to ponder, a key Biblical verse to remember, and a question to consider. While answering the questions at times felt tedious, I'm glad I took the time to do it, because this is where I felt I got the most out of the book. Significant insights came to me through considering my own life and experiences in light of scripture and the purpose discussed in each chapter.

Some ideas that stood out to me:

• Prayer lets you speak to God. Meditation lets God speak to you. 
• "The essence of love is not what we think or do or provide for others, but how much we give of ourselves.... Love means giving up—yielding my preferences, comfort, goals, security, money, energy, or time for the benefit of someone else."
• "You discover your role in life through your relationships with others."
• Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It is thinking of yourself less. 
• Our time on earth is about building and strengthening our character for heaven. 
• Believe God is working in your life even when you don't feel it. 
• God never wastes anything; He matches our calling and our capabilities. God wants to say something to the world through each of us.

These are just some of the many insights this book offers. Overall, it's a great guide to having a closer relationship with God, both in prayer and reflection, and throughout our daily lives. Purpose driven living is not only about being aware of what we're here for, but also letting this knowledge inform how we live our lives—and this is the great challenge of the Christian life.

[Image from here.]

Youth as a Time of Searching

Pope John Paul II wrote, in Crossing the Threshold of Hope, that youth is a time of searching for answers to basic questions. He notes that we’re not only looking for meaning in life, but also “a concrete way to go about living” that life.

As a youth struggling with how to fulfill my mission on earth, how best to use the gifts I’ve been given, I can definitely relate to this observation. I am full of questions, from “Where to begin?” to “How?” to “Then what?” and I’m overwhelmed with advice, from family and friends, to career counsellors, to self-help books, to the saints and the Gospel itself.

It’s a very humbling experience, because when you’re in school, all you have to do is what’s expected of you. You know the drill and the rewards are clear: study, work hard, get good grades. But as soon as you leave that comfortable bubble, things are no longer so clear cut.

In everything that I’ve been learning from this experience, the strongest lesson is this: that I am not alone. I am not the only one who is uncertain. And I am certainly not the only one who cares about making a difference in this world, who wants work that is meaningful and truly engages my spirit.

The prevailing message in this world is that, when you get to a certain age, you’re supposed to have it all figured out—or at least pretend you do. But the reality is that, with ever-increasing options for work and the ever-changing nature of the job market, it becomes even harder to choose.

But choose we must. And what we decide to do with our lives is our responsibility and gift to God.

[Photo from here.]

Life's Like That

There is so much in life that is beyond our control. As it’s often said, "If you want to make God laugh, make plans." You can think your life's headed in one direction, you've finally got things figured out, and then suddenly everything changes. Perhaps it’s a sudden job loss, the death of a loved one, or an illness. These times are so very trying, but they can also offer an opportunity to re-examine what’s truly important in life.

Finding Your Mission in Life

Much could be said about Richard Bolle’s seminal bestseller What Color Is Your Parachute? I picked up a copy a few years ago, having seen the book at my university’s career centre library and hearing glowing recommendations about it.

Unlike a lot of books in the career and self-help genre, Parachute has a soul. Bolles—a former Episcopal clergyman—speaks from the perspective of one with faith and doesn’t hide this from the reader. So when he discusses finding your life’s work, it is framed in a spiritual context: finding the work you were made, by God, to do.

There is a plethora of job-finding tips in this book, but I want to focus on the chapter about finding your mission in life. This chapter reads like an essay—or perhaps a sermon—on finding one’s vocation and frames this issue in a new light.

Rather than thinking of your mission as one thing you are called to do, Bolles suggests that each person’s mission has three parts. Summarized, these are:

1) To know God, the One who gives you your mission.

2) To do what you can each day to make the world a better place, following God’s spirit within you and around you.

3) a) To use the talent that you came to Earth to use—your greatest gift, that gives you joy to use

b) in the place(s) or settings that God has caused to appeal to you the most,

c) and for what God most needs to have done in the world.

The first two aspects of one’s mission are shared by all human beings, while the third is unique to each individual. Bolles notes that “We were all sent here to bring more gratitude, more kindness, more forgiveness, and more love into the world.” Humans share this mission because the task is too large to be accomplished by just one person.

This interpretation of one’s mission in life makes sense to me. How can you know your purpose before you know the one who gave you that purpose? It is also comforting to think that one’ s mission is a continual life process, rather than something you just “know” and I somehow missed that gene.

What the third aspect seems to come down to is having the courage to follow your heart, knowing God will lead you each step of the way. And being perceptive to your own interests: What activities bring you joy and make you lose all sense of time?

Ultimately, what we are called to do in this world is an intersection between the work we want to do and the work the world most needs to have done.