• Book Chapter:

I believe we all have a destiny, but only a few accept the challenge. Most people fear their destiny, feeling inadequate for the task ahead or just not realizing that they have a destiny.  Your destiny is a calling, an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of other people though using all that you are, all you have learned and experienced and doing something with that for the good of mankind. My grandfather was a minister. My father was a salesman. When he was in his early 90s and I was in my 50s, he said to me: “Of all my sons (he had 4) I thought you would be the one who had the calling.” He was of course was referring to his father’s mission in life: that of a minister. “Dad,” I said, “I do have the calling. I don’t preach the Gospel, I preach Art. My life, at least in the past 30 years, has devoted to building an art school, one that is unique and is dedicated to helping other creative people understand their mission in life and to prepare them for their destiny.”

Here are the 8 Keys to Success, at least as I see them today. Tomorrow, I may discover others. I hope so.

ONE: Passion.
There is something driving you: ambition, a need or recogniction, ego, greed. You have a vision that life can be better, you can be better and that you can make the lives of others better, too. You see (or feel) there is some vague goal for your future. Long term goals are necessary to direct our energies, but short-term goals are what we can do, each day, to move us toward the Long Term Goal.

TWO: High Self Esteem.

You think well of yourself. You are not boastful or egotistical, you have an honest understanding of your talents, and handicaps and are working toward getting better.

THREE: The Ability to Take a Risk.

You understand that every challenge involves a risk. You have learned, through experience, how to assess risk and the consequences of failure and weigh that against the possibilities of success and are willing to assume the risk.

FOUR: Persistence:
It will take 10 years before you can use the craft to hear what your inner artist has to say. I have asked hundreds of accomplished photographers, writers, filmmakers, painters and musicians how long it took before they felt they were speaking from a source within. “Ten years,” has been their unanimous answer.
If it takes Ten Years, then how to spend the time wisely? It will take, in my estimation, 2 years to learn and master 70% of the craft you will need to work in your chosen medium.  It will take another 8 years to acquire the next 20% of your craft. At 90%, you will have mastered your craft, but there is that 10% that will take a lifetime to acquire. In the meantime, while working to master your craft (the technical and methods of working in a medium) you will also be learning and acquiring a personal vision, your ability to see, to observe, to create and discover things. This is difficult at first, but the older you get the wiser and more aware, the more perceptive you become. Craft and vision are your tools for inner exploration.
Persistence takes discipline. Discipline is simply doing what you know you need to do, even through you don’t feel like doing it. The first things is knowing what to do. Most people do not know. You are reading this, so you are interested in finding out what to do. Make a list. Next, find the will power to do what’s on the list. This is the most difficult part of all the keys, finding the positive willpower to do what you know you need to do. We all wrestle with discipline for it does not come easily, not even for the most successful.

FIVE: Being Nice to Work With
Why is this important? Because it will be other people who will help you acquire the craft, help you discover and develop your vision, give you a job, introduce you to opportunities.  People want to help others, but only if they show a willingness to work, to contribute and are nice to have around. People want to have positive, enthusiastic people around, people who will solve problems, not create them.

SIX: Who You Know
If you are nice to work with, the next will follow. These are the people who will help you with everything else on the list.

1. 
   Good Teachers—people who know what you need to know and can teach it to you in a way that you learn it.
   Coaches—people who know your limits and your potential and will help keep you close to you “edge” learning and growing.
   Peers—Your friends and classmates, people who are on the same rung of the ladder as you, who are striving as you are.
   Masters—people who are successful in their careers who can look at your work, your process and your career and give you valuable feedback, feedback you will accept and follow.
   Mentors—a master with whom you have established a working relationship, someone who is wiser, accomplished and will help you understand the limits and possibilities of your projects, your process and your creative life.
   

SEVEN: Master Your Craft
Learn something so you have a tool with which to earn a living, and one that you can also use to explore life—outwardly and spiritually, as you search your soul for the reasons of your existence.

EIGHT: Talent
Talent is the natural ability to do something extraordinary. We all can do a lot, but some people have been gifted with talents that go beyond what others can do. What are you talented at? Do you know?

Success is not a matter of being talented. Notice it is number 8, last on the list.  A little bit of talent, combined with all the rest ensures success. I know many people who are talented, but a lack one or more of the other 7 other keys and they fail to succeed.

Do not blame your lack of success on your lack of talent. It will be your attitude that will determine your altitude, not your talent or lack thereof.

© Copyright 2001, David Lyman,
Rockport, Maine 04856