|  by Dr. Jeffrey Lant.
Author's program note. For my entire life, now creeping close to 7 decades, I have made the study of successful people my metier. I have surrounded myself by them... scrutinized them (as upclose and personal as possible)... I have dissected, emulated, researched and dogged their heels the better to understand why some folks make it, not just having but living their expansive dreams, whilst for others, the overwhelming majority of others, success is never any closer than a word in the dictionary, an elusive chimera to be wondered at, never seized or enjoyed. Well, the cavalry has just arrived, the heavy guns, the Marines... all wrapped up in one unstoppable guy with sap to spare; that would be me. You've crossed into my territory now and here the writ than runs is mine... and its message is clear, unmistakable, pure, unadulterated: unqualified success is the goal... and your unqualified attention is absolutely required, every minute you say you want success. Each word that follows, every sentence will, if followed religiously, advance your success. By the same token, your failure to follow these essential words ensures your success is diminished, degraded, diluted; not merely lessoned but unachievable. Today's music, the sound of success. Want to expedite your success? Then use all five senses. See it. Touch it. Taste it. Smell it... and hear it. For this you need music, bold, audacious, in your face, "lead, follow, or get out of the way". The music Jule (pronounced Ju-Lee) Styne composed and for which lyricist extraordinaire Stephen Sondheim worked his magic is what I've got in mind. This song is "Everything's Coming Up Roses" from the 1959 Broadway musical "Gypsy: A Musical Fable". This is not merely a song. It is an acute, strident, even chilling declaration about what success entails, costs, and what you must do including the obsessive megalomania that is so very much a part of the upward trajectory. The song was originally written for Ethel Merman (1908-1984). Both Styne and Songheim, while recognizing Merman's vocal power and range had doubts about her for this number. After all, she had risen to stardom via Cole Porter's smooth, glib, witty, sophisticated genius. Porter (1891-1964) was the petted heir to a multi-million dollar fortune from Miles Laboratories. He never had to work; never wanted for money, for anything. Every time America belched and took an Alka-Seltzer Porter's net worth increased. Thus Porter's sophisticated genius, realized by Merman, enlivened the Roaring Twenties parties of the night before, whilst the tablets they took the morning after made him richer and richer still. His songs, therefore, were chic,clever, delightful, delicious, delectable, delovely... but that was not what Styne and Songheim wanted from Merman's rendition of Mama Rose, and they were afraid she could not rise to the occasion which called for the singer to deliver the smell of rancid sweat, gnawing hunger, bills not paid, midnight despair, anxieties galore and profound fears... and from these unlikely, even toxic ingredients produce a bona fide anthem to soaring, glorious, success and all the sacrificing it took to get it. Go now to any search engine and play Merman's triumphant rendition... particularly in the half dozen lines at the end of this masterpiece; "Everything's coming up roses and daffodils:..". Play this song when you want the authentic sound of success. You'll hear just what you must do. Are you ready to get started? Mirror, mirror... Look at yourself in the looking glass. Put that face you think you know so well under the most precise and unrelenting of microscopes. Then ask yourself this absolutely essential question: Do you look like a success? Successful people have a look, an aura, that unmistakable je ne sais quoi that so clearly indicates that they are in possession of a vital insight that you probably don't have -- yet. This insight is a cocktail of key ingredients, each one necessary, none expendable.. Look in the mirror now to see what you're working with. Do you look alive? Do you look confident? Do you look like someone who projects a "can-do" aura? Or do you look like someone who's let himself go... someone who would rather be in bed... someone who gave up on life's struggles long ago and is now hoping for nothing more than to get by in reasonable comfort and privacy before the Grim Reaper claims your hide? Successful people do not merely live life. They are engaged with life, fully aware that life is a thing of short duration, pitfalls, crises, catastrophes, set backs, obstacles, misjudgments, miscalculations, and painful errors of every size and variety. Successful people understand that these things, despite the best and most thorough preparation will happen. Because they expect them, they are not unhinged by them. Rather they look at each such event as an inevitability... a problem to be solved... an opportunity to show what you've learned and apply it promptly to minimize damage and return to the serious business of success, more experienced, tougher, and street smart than ever. In short, lemons into the pinkest of lemonades. Clothes. Unless you intend to be the popinjay on fashion's run-way, a certifiable clothes horse where every thread is examined, evaluated, critiqued, ridiculed, catty comments twelve for a penny, clothes must assist in making the necessary statement of who you are and should never, ever be the statement. In other words clothes at all times must be subservient to the overall effect, never the focus. With this in mind, have you checked your basic wardrobe lately? Here's a hint. In one of Agatha Christie's novels, the solution to the crime hinges on the lady's fashion insight. One suspect dresses to kill, the flashiest of ensembles, while the second wears clothes a trifle thread-bare and past their prime.The deduction? Miss Marple could tell from the cut who was the gentleman (and hence less likely to murder in those distant days), and who wasn't. In short it is not the age of the clothes or their pretensions to being a la mode. Rather, it is the look that is everything... and that look should never scream... but rather project the aura of quiet confidence and absolute assurance. Does yours? The essential people. We have now arrived at the most important thing it takes to be successful... and that is a resolute, honest, hard-working team of people who look out for you, in every and any way. This will include but not be restricted to health and wellness mavens, keeping you physically (and mentally) at the peak of perfection; investment counselors; personal assistants, bookkeepers and accountants, lawyers, the experts who advise on what pictures you buy and the wizard who has always helped you select just the right diamonds when, like Holly Golightly, you had only the toy from a box of Cracker Jack to engrave. These are the people, each one both essential to your success and reflecting the degree to which you have achieved it, who ensure you reach it and ensure you keep it. How many of these key personnel do you have? The extent to which you do everything yourself is the discernible measure of how far from success you still remain. 99% say NO, and I'm thriiled; a cautionary tale. Years ago, I owned the largest advertising card deck in the world. Each quarterly edition went to 100,000 people. Of these up to 99% would throw it away upon receipt. That's right 99%! But the key is not all the people who didn't respond, but the 1% who did. From those 1000 people every 90 days, I quickly, inevitably became not just a millionaire, but a multi-millionaire. I called myself the "most rejected man in America."... and the happiest. Get the point? Each rejection, yes every one, moves you measurably closer to the next acceptance and the success it has brought closer. This, then, is the question: how many times have you been rejected today, yesterday, the day before that, because if you are not being rejected, you cannot be accepted and thus your failure is inevitable? Thus, when you've finished this article risk rejection, by a business prospect, by a supplier where you want better terms, by a company you'd like to work for. This can be daunting, difficult, demanding poise, confidence, and grit. It also happens it is the only guaranteed way to succeed. Capisce? |
