A Sneaky Technique To Put (And Keep) You Ahead
Posted on January 31, 2012 by Paul W Anderson PhD, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.
Do you make big pronouncements about plans for success and then wonder why your goals are never achieved? Here's why you should try "sneaky" instead
Okay. Here it is, the “Sneaky Technique”: sneak up on success. Make progress toward your goals as unobserved as possible. Work below the radar. Don’t announce your march and advancement toward success. Do the work instead.
The sneaky “Millionaire Next Door” is a good example. They drive an unpretentious vehicle, often a Ford F-150, work in a factory and live in a nondescript house. Unless they told you so (and they don’t talk about it), you’d never guess their net worth had reached the level it has in the last 20 years.
Maybe “sneaky” carries a negative connotation for you. If you look it up in a dictionary, you find these definitions: “furtive, suspicious, marred by deception”. But look again, and the second time you also find, “marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed”. Not so negative after all if you want to preserve what you’ve attained
Some people make a lot of noise about what they are about to do or have just done, such as, “I just joined the gym and I’m getting in shape.” Or, “This legal deal I’m about to settled will put me on easy street.” Maybe they don’t verbally shout out their intentions and achievements, but they do want you to see their new Beemer or come to the big party at their big new house on high roller street, or drop names like what island their last vacation was on. Check on their progress in a few years.
Getting successful is the easy part. Sustaining success is the hard part. How success is achieved determines how long you will stay successful. Many do indeed grab the brass ring. Few hang on. The sneaky formula for sustained success in anything, large or small, is to take slow, small, steady and secret steps toward your goal(s). And keep doing it and keep doing it and keep doing it.
Be quiet, cautious and secretive about any new project until it is well under way and strong enough to endure the glare of public recognition it and you will surely get from others before they get used to the new, successful you. Sneaky is good. Use a “Sneaky Coach”.
