If you had a magic wand, what would you change? Now before you go thinking that this is a deep philosophical question, which it is, what would be most important to you? Would it be something about your appearance, your health, your finances, your career, or your neighbours? Would you change your game of golf or tennis, your car, or the general pace of life or something more altruistic like ‘world peace’? Or maybe you’re like me and just want ‘peace at home’. How good would that be?
How many times have you heard someone (or ourselves, for that matter) say, “If only I could do such and such a thing, or be this person, or change some other aspect of our life?” Or maybe you are one of the rare exceptions though, who is very happy with everything in your life? Okay, these people are generally monks, who live in some remote region like the Himalayan mountains. Yes surprisingly, they really are. A research study on happiness done a few years ago ranked monks, who meditated in these remote regions, amongst the happiest people on earth.
It seems that its human nature that we yearn for the best or we simply want more in life. Some people are never happy with their life or life choices. They think that if they had, for example, more money, or more friends or a bigger house or better job, that they would be happy or successful. Interestingly, however, getting more of something does not necessarily bring about happiness, nor does it bring about greater satisfaction either. As many people have found over time, happiness is an intrinsic attitude to life – we either make up our minds to be happy or not.
Some students think that if they had more intelligence or had different circumstances, that they could do better in life or in school. If someone were to say to them exactly how they can achieve more, would they want to pay the price? It’s a common misconception that some people are born smarter, or are more good looking or come from a wealthy family, and that’s why they are successful or happy. The reality is though that many great musicians, sportspeople, academics or business people are successful for very different reasons.
What do technology tycoons Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, basketball superstar, Michael Jordan, All Star Canadian Ice Hockey players have in common? Not much you might be thinking, but surprisingly they do share certain circumstances that account for their success.
In his thought provoking book “Outliers – The Story of Success”, Malcolm Gladwell argues that his research on people who have become successful, demonstrates through a series of totally unrelated people and circumstances, how successful people have become successful. Was there anything magical about how it happened? Maybe, but, by and large many of the most successful people became successful, according to Gladwell because of :
• hard work - one of the keys to success in life, he argues
• persistence - no one succeeds without this key ingredient
• 10,000 hours of deliberate practice are required to become the most successful – whether programming a computer, practising basketball, ice hockey or in science – 10,00 hours of deliberate practice makes perfect
• an element of luck or serendipity - like being in the right place at the right time - but some people seem to make their own luck don’t they?
• timing – the year or even the date born was a factor with some sporting stars who were ‘young for cut-off dates for sporting teams and had advantage of more expert coaching and team competition
• cultural and family circumstances plant the seeds of success – particularly where parents set high expectations and encourage or rehearse their children for success in all aspects of their life.
According to Gladwell (p19):
“People don’t rise from nothing. We do owe something to parentage and patronage. The people who stand before kings may look like they did it all by themselves. But in fact they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.
It makes a difference where and when we grew up. The culture we belong to and the legacies passed down by our forebears shape the patterns of our achievement in ways we cannot begin to imagine. It’s not enough to ask what successful people are like, in other words. It is only by asking where they are ‘from’ that we can unravel the logic behind who succeeds and who doesn’t.”
Now how does this information benefit us personally or our children? In John Hattie’s groundbreaking research book Visible Learning, he synthesises over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement and found that the top contributor to student achievement gains is prior achievement. In other words, what a child brings to the classroom each year is very much related to their achievement in previous years.
According to Hattie’s findings,(and this will be no surprise to most parents and teachers), students were very knowledgeable about their chances of success and overall if students had higher expectations of success, then they were more likely to succeed than students who did not expect to succeed. Hattie also found that the home environment and parental involvement in learning, parental expectations of students and parental aspirations where the parents are actively involved in the students learning, contributed significantly to student achievement improvement over time. The secret to success is not such a big secret after all.
Commitment to succeeding it seems is as good a predictor of success as many other factors. Parents and students should take heart from these findings as they demonstrate again, that there is no secret to success. Success comes from the interplay of hard work, perspiration and persistence, commitment and family expectations and student expectations and aspirations of how successful they want to be. In conclusion I will leave you with these thoughts from famous Scottish athlete W. H. Murray:
“Until one is committed
There is hesitancy, the chance to draw back,
always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation)
there is one elementary truth,
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas
and splendid plans:
that the moment one definitely commits oneself,
then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one
That would otherwise never have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one’s favour all manner
of unforseen incidents and meetings
and material assistance,
which no man or woman could have dreamt
would have come his or her way.”
(p.s. Did I mention the 10,000 hours of deliberate practice too?)
Karon Graham
Principal
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