Sometimes we come across simple truths and simply ignore them because they are too simple. Many people dismiss an idea because it is simply too obvious.

Today I would like to evaluate the simple truth: Successful people work harder.

I use a simple philosophy for success, which always worked for me: Find a passion, work at it, become good at it.

If wealth alone is a measure of success, then you can perhaps debate whether I am successful or not. But if I told you that about 15 years ago I fell in love with the abilities of data and information to give companies a competitive advantage and dedicated my career to doing exactly that. This has allowed me to work internationally, get cross industry experience and finally head up the Business Intelligence division of the leading fashion retailer in South Africa. Would you view success differently?

Along the way, I also discovered the power of Mind Maps and Mind Mapping and its contribution to my success. In January 2009, I decided to start MindMapTutor.com, which in itself is a success. I wanted to ‘give something back’ and committed to posting one article a week to help others. I wanted this site to be free, but I also did not want to hold back. I wanted to ensure that I gave the best that I could, as it fits in with another of my beliefs: You must first give before you get and the more you give, the more you shall receive.

Writing an article a week is not as easy as it sounds. Won’t I run out of ideas? Where will I find the time, having a demanding full time job? Will people read my articles?

This and a lot more questions were asked.

I responded by finding a timeslot that sounds crazy to most people: 6.00 a.m. on a Saturday morning. If I miss this appointment (which I sometimes do), then it will be 6.00 a.m. on Sunday morning. In this timeslot, I will focus on nothing else but writing my article, but preparation actually starts days before I sit down to write.

MindMapTutor.com was launched officially in March 2009. Since then, I’ve posted my promised ‘one article a week’. You can get this directly into your email Inbox by subscribing on MindMapTutor.com.

The site has steadily grown and now has a few thousand unique visitors every month. Some of the articles have even prompted some serious debate in many forums. I’ve also had numerous emails of people thanking me.

Here is one comment on my last post, ‘A reflection of a year’s work’, which I share with you (after much deliberation with myself):

Hi Faizel…Thought I would just send a ‘thank you’ note, for mind-mapping. This has helped me tremendously. I have 2 kids and studying Logistics at the University of Johannesburg. I got 2 distinctions and a ‘B’ symbol for my final exams. Your e-mails and study methods have inspired and guided me through this year. Thank you for the great work you are doing. The article below is so, so true, as this was my motto this year as well. I was determined to get excellent results and to get a better job at a ‘bigger’ company with benefits. And I’ve got them all. I start my new job in sourcing for a major retail group in Johannesburg… (Linda Naidoo)

Now back to the topic of this week’s article.

Outliers

I am currently reading a book called ‘Outliers’ by Malcolm Gladwell. It is dubbed ‘The STORY of SUCCESS’. An outlier is someone that stands apart from the rest. Today, I would like to relay one of the principles, in the book – hard work.

He relays the story of a study done on a group violinists at the Berlin Academy of Music, led by the psychologist K. Anders Ericsson.

1. Group one was destined for greatness and an outstanding professional career.
2. Group two was very good and may even play professionally.
3. Group three would never play professionally and would probably end up as school teachers in the public school system.

All of the violinists were asked the same question: Over the course of your career, how many hours have you practised?

Now before we look at the answers, I would like you to take note of the following. Each of the violinists started playing when they were about five years old. Each one of them was identified as having above ordinary talent and singled out from hundreds of other players.

Here are the results:

• In the first few years, everyone practised roughly the same amount, about two to three hours a week.
• By the time they were eight years old, differences started to emerge.
• The best students started practising more than everyone else: six hours by age nine, eight hours by age twelve, sixteen hours by age fourteen…
• By the time they were twenty, the top group put in more that 10,000 hours, the middle group about 8,000 hours and the bottom group about 4,000 hours.

Ericsson and his colleagues then went on to pianists. They compared amateur pianists with professional ones and found exactly the same pattern. The amateur pianists never practised more than about three hours during the course of their childhood.

The professional pianists also steadily increased their practise time over the years and by the time they reached the age of twenty, they had notched up over 10,000 hours. The amateurs? Well, they only managed about 2,000 hours.

The striking thing about Ericsson’s studies are the following:

• There were no ‘naturals’ – musicians that floated effortlessly to the top.
• There were no ‘grinds’ - musicians that worked harder than anyone else and were not successful.
• Once you have enough ability, the thing that differentiates the top from the bottom is how hard you work.

That’s it! The people at the top don’t only work harder, they work much, much harder!

Does this come as a surprise to you? In some cases these simple truths go unnoticed.

How does this help you?

Start by evaluating yourself and your talents.

• What are you good at?
• What do you think your talents are?
• What do other people think your talents are?

Look deep into yourself. There are some things that you can do better than others. Create a Mind Map of your talents. Look at your talents holistically. Out of this, you will find the one thing that you can start working on daily.

You may not become the next concert pianist, but you will, little by little, improve yourself until you are operating at a level much higher than you are now. Success will follow.

I’m not only paying lip service to this. I hope that I practise what I preach. Mind Maps are my other passion. I believe that I can apply Mind Maps in almost any situation. I’ve used it to study, to brainstorm, to project manage, to manage people, to write, to memorise, to stimulate creativity and much, much more…

Over the last 15 years, I’ve spent hundreds of hours Mind Mapping, reading about Mind , thinking about Mind Mapping and now, writing about Mind Mapping.

I’ve also created Mind Maps for other people to use, which goes beyond personal use. Who knows where this is going. All I know is: I love it and I will continue doing it for as long as I can and as often as I can.

Success will surely follow???

A lot of this has been put into our Learning Management Programme, which gives you a holistic programme on learning how to learn and managing your learning process.

While working harder is definitely the major factor in success, working smarter cannot be discounted. Our Learning Management Programme will allow you to work smarter so that you can get a competitive advantage by being able to learn quicker and easier.

Please spread the word. If you think my articles can add value to other people’s lives, pass it on and encourage them to subscribe to their free weekly dose of getting Mind Maps and Mind Mapping to drive their success.