Differences in Accomplishments

What are the reasons for such a wide disparity in levels of accomplishment among individuals? Some of us achieve to an almost supernatural level, while others of us wallow in dysfunction. Most of us settle in to a comfortable mediocrity, content with limited imagination and experience. Some of us tolerate an uncomfortable mediocrity, feeling, knowing and wanting more, but unable to execute with enough consistency or purpose to rise above the banality of everyday life.

Certainly, raw Intelligence plays a significant role. That's not all, of course, as much has been written about the importance of Emotional Intelligence. A strong Will certainly helps drive us to success. Confidence also plays an important role. Without Imagination or Vision, nothing is possible. When we lack any of these qualities, the chance of outsize accomplishment and contribution is significantly diminished.

Success in this context does not necessarily refer to the financial variety, although that comes as a tangential byproduct much of the time. A successful life is one of fundamental joy. If joy is present internally, the external fruits display the result.

As discussed in the book, Outliers, mega-accomplishment also has much to do with fortunate circumstances or environment coupled with the opportunity to focus on a particular skillset for a significant length of time. 10,000 hours seems to be the magic number that roughly corresponds to about 10 years of doing something almost every day for several hours. Even assenting to the Outlier theory, I do not believe the outsize accomplishment is possible without most or all of the qualities mentioned above.

I believe accomplishment and contribution is Vision teamed with Intent lubricated with Confidence grounded by Intuition and powered by Intelligence. The more we have of these qualities and the more we strive to increase our levels of these qualities the more accomplishment, contribution and abundance we experience in our lives. The more we allow these qualities to wither, the less robust and engaging our lives will become.