What Isn’t successful, Isn’t useful. Disagree

Photo by Giammarco Boscaro on Unsplash

It’s a notion I have held for long.

There are a lot of parallels to these, which all have the same roots

What isn’t complete, isn’t useful.

What isn’t polished, isn’t worth showing,

What isn’t popular, isn’t top quality

It’s important to understand the radical scale that we use to see the world when we say this statement. Life isn’t binary so why encourage thoughts that are black & white, all or none in nature. We need to appreciate the greyness of life, since the grey area where the most growth, learning happens.

The Zeroes and Ones are just the starting of the journey and attainment of the goal. The real journey lies in the grey zone. Here are some reasons to appreciate the greyness of thoughts.

1. Failure — To err is human Greyspace gives you multiple opportunities to fail and not be attached a categorical outcome (Won or Lost) to the process. This gives you the incentive to try things that might fail without the burden of being always right.
2. Pivots — See what sticks Hand in hand with failures come pivots of life, you try that career, hobby, plan, relationship but it doesn’t work out the way you wanted to. Perhaps you changed course when you learned new skills acquired wisdom made acquaintances. Grey allows you to change shades, there are thousands. Pick yours.
3. Breadth — Ever been a secure generalist? One of the best things you can do to your career is to be a late specializer by exploring tens of fields in your career to pick up your unique wedge and dive this wedge deep into a specialization later in life. But the time during which you explore the breadth, the world demands specialist and this grey area of not being one makes you insecure.
4. Repetitions — “I show up every day and that is why I win.” Repetitions like failure do not give you any significant travel on the success meter. What’s one workout gonna do to your overweight body. That's the voice of a black and white radical, do not listen. For these insignificant ripples of today will become waves of success tomorrow.
5. Habits —” I am the type of person that shows up” Habits are about building an Identity that appreciates a grey space. It’s okay to not see results today. In fact, developing effective habits is barely about the results. The power of habits directly correlates to the appreciation of the grey.
6. Time — “Time is an unparalleled leverage” When you stop seeing every action of yours to be given a judgment of worthy or unworthy, you will realize time is the biggest leverage of all. Given enough time in the grey optimizes your chances of hitting more ambitious ones. Being impatient robs you of the extent your punches can go. Wait for the gap. Jab.
7. Tipping point — “Overnight success” Just when you have invested enough time, built habits by living through repetitions, explored the breadth of your potential, pivoting towards the success that matters to you failing enough times you arrive at the Tipping point where your journey in the Grey world has added up to an extent that you outperform your goals. The world suddenly discovers you as an overnight success.

For the world, your journey was Zero to One. Failure to Success

But for you, it was all seven elements in the grey world.

So I ask you the next time the world discovers your “success”, Disagree with them. Show them the world of Grey. Show them where success is really born. Ask them to appreciate themselves when they are not strong and never be ashamed of themselves to be in the Grey.