DrContrarian

Commentators often talk about the ‘2- percenters’ - that is doing those things that are tough, have a low probability of success and yet goes to show an attitude of perseverance and commitment to the small details other people will overlook. (It is often used as a sporting analogy to illustrate the point (for instance) that you still chase down an opponent even if they have already crossed the line because the pressure may just result in a drop ball.) This analogy is misleading because it focuses on the 99 th and 100 th steps in the percentage of effort. True success comes from the 101 st and 102 nd percentage points of effort. Sprint athletes are told to finish ‘through the line’ and martial arts experts will tell you that you get hurt when you stop the momentum of your blow on impact; you must hit through the brick to break it. This is not the proverbial ‘extra mile’ that you must walk – which is merely an optional, nice touch. That would be gesture to differentiate yourself ...

There are many obstacles to achieving success. Failure is the default position, I think. (Several 100 million sperm, one baby. Etcetera.) So what are the obstacles? Let me not count the ways… there still many blogs to come, but I’ll just focus on one: CYNICISM. Cynicism is such an easy, ‘adult’ excuse. It masquerades as word-weary experience, so it is very handy to pull out. And because success is more exceptional than it should be, the cynics are often right. But to be successful, you need an almost child-like naiveté: To remain positive in the face adversity, to persist against the odds – all these things require a suspension of ‘reality’ that’s seems very self-evident to the cynic. There are always more reasons to give up than there are to keep going so to be cynical is more realistic and possibly even more rational. Cynicism also provides the rationale after you quit – making it the easy option; justifiable under the circumstances. And because the circumstances are always s...

Read today... for the gazillionth time (MyBusiness , Mar 07, Australia) that apparently the key to success and the one thing all high achievers do without fail, is to "write down your goals" and then to keep reading them for 30 days and it will happen. I reckon somebody said it once, and every person who wrote a self-help book or article subsequently, quoted it or repeated it and somehow it has become this irrefutable, magical, meta-truth that only losers will dare refute. Question to those gurus : Can someone, anyone, actually quote some research that proves that this is so? The act of writing the goal down has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with the achievement of that goal. You can wear your lucky underpants all you like, but it ain't gonna make your footy team win. There is a psychological phenomenon (e.g. post-purchase cognitive dissonance) that plays a role. Have you noticed how, once you have bought a new car, you suddenly notice how many of them are on the roa...