This Is Something We All Do That Keeps Us from Succeeding...

Every day I get questions that have something to do with or include the word "success" and how to acquire it.

I have been both the person seeking the answers (arguably still am in some ways) and the person who's cracked the code. That being said, there is no formula.

There are, however, some things that we all tend to do that further keep us from achieving what we want to in life.

Bear in mind that this is something I maintain as my own intuition and opinion. Because let's face it, there are a million ways people keep themselves from success, and there are a million very specific ways people happen to do that for their own lives. So, I don't claim to know anything other than the opinion I support in my own brain.

For me, the one thing I see everyone doing, my age and not, is focusing on the incorrect things.

It's way too often I hear people saying, "I love this, but I'm not good at it." And while I maintain that you can teach yourself a lot about a lot of things you're not great at, I also believe in pure talent.

If you're just not talented at something, it's harder for you to succeed at it, period. And while that doesn't necessarily mean you have to remove it from your list of goals and achievable aspirations in life, harping it on might be the one thing that's keeping you from accomplishing anything at all.

The reality of life, in my eyes, is that we're all born with a certain uniqueness. There are things at birth that are laid out for us, whether they be genetic or self-developed spirituality, that guarantee our success at certain things.

To better explain this, I'll use myself.

I was born small. I am 24 years old and I'm five feet tall. Never once in my life's plot did a successful basketball career show promise or come as guaranteed.

I was also born with an intrinsic artistic & creative ability that far outstrips that of my brother, father, and mother, making creative application of ideas infinitely easier for me than for them.

That being said, I've never once thought about pursuing a career in mathematics or found a genuine interest in anything of a systematic and analytical nature.

While the reason for this is more or less vested in the fact I simply don't like those types of things, the deeper explanation really is that I don't like those things because I'm lousy at them.

And the things I do enjoy, are the things I can't get enough of.

Art, content, literature, books, poetry, writing, screenplays, you name it. Anything arts and culture related, I am a complete sucker for. And, naturally, therein lies where I focus the majority of my attention.

Too many of you that seek success and achievement associate your success with money immediately (I did this too, no worries).

In doing that, you have a tendency to focus on things that might yield that result. And while this makes complete sense to a certain degree, it also doesn't.

The truth is that the things you're good at, the things that you like, are the things that will yield the most success. So, my question is, why continue to focus on things you suck at?

Sure, you can hone some skillsets and get better at things you're not the best at, but why wouldn't you triple down on things you're naturally incredible at in the meantime?

Success, for so many people, means so many different things. For me, success is measured on my happiness and the things I do each and every day. I am lucky enough to say that the things I'm good at are the things that make me my money and keep me afloat, but the reason for where I am now and that I have the ability to focus on these things is that I focused on them constantly in my early stages.

When I started my first corporate job, I knew that one day I wanted to work for myself. Additionally, I knew that my skills sets were in social media content, creative strategy, growth, writing, and art direction.

When I was hustling on the side of my full-time job, I knew that these things that I showed talent and promise in were the things that would eventually make me successful and financially comfortable.

So I doubled down on them.

I studied different social media accounts, I learned growth, and I observed trends in different industries. I talked to visual creatives about content trends and different art directions per industry.

I did the work, sure. But I did the work that MATTERED.

I did the world that made sense for ME.

I truly credit a majority of my success to my ability to do better at what I'm best at.

Let's bring out another example. Let's say you're a kicka$$ painter, muralist, or overall visual artists.

In my opinion, you should double down on your art. Create things that you're good at creating and strive always to master and sharpen your craft.

If you make landscape paintings that people love and want to buy, create more of them, adapt them, research how to infuse today's trends into your work, study different mediums and constantly sharpen your work to improve upon it.

And if you're in need of marketing, social growth, or something in your game that you're not good at, find someone else who's natural ability (like your art is to you) is vested in those things you need.

I truly feel that when we try to do things that we aren't good at without honing in on the things we're exceptional at, we fail. The lack of practicality in ignoring what we're great at is a dangerous thing not only to our success, but our genuine happiness.

The bottom line is this...

If you're good at something and it brings you joy, do it more. Get better at it. Perfect it.

If you're bad at something and it brings you joy, figure out a way to make it something you're good at.

If you're bad at something and you're doing it because you think it's going to guarantee your success, you're going to fail.

You were given a natural ability at something in this lifetime, use it to take you where you want to go and to become who you want to be.