I am not successful yet. Nonetheless, these are my thoughts on Successful people.

Apart from my name being Adekunle Success, I have not yet earned the right to write an article titled “10 Secrets to Success” or “How I became successful.” I am not there yet. I don’t own anything worth a million yet. But I have learned something this past few months and I want to share.

Everybody wants to own a record of achievements for a lot of things. But in the end, only a few people get to live those achievements.

These few are regarded as Successful people.

They are the CEOs, the superstars, the GOATS, the celebrities, the business magnates, the investor supremes, and the famous folks.

I tried to understand this set of people, of course not directly, through numerous means.

I read their books(Biographies and autobiographies), watched their videos, and read articles about them.

I realized successful people have something noteworthy every other person doesn’t have.

They had an advantage.

What do I mean?

They were in a favorable position to be successful. Not that they were all comfortably strolling into success. They had something others did not have. It might be their parents, people they met while growing up, where they stayed or are staying, the friends they keep, the person they are, the people they listen to, the choices they make, their physical abilities, or just random luck. Nonetheless, they had an advantage.

I had always thought all I needed to do to be successful was hard work.

Then I looked around, and I saw that some people work just as hard but they were not as successful as those at the peak.

We can’t excuse the fact that successful people work hard and consistently put effort into their growth. But maybe everything is not all about working hard.

We are all different beings with different experiences, environments, choices, upbringing, and affiliations.

This difference can be an advantage that decides who succeeds at a particular thing and those yet to succeed.

For example,

The Polgar sisters might not be Chess Grandmasters today without their parents deciding to raise their daughters with chess from the age of 4.

Dangote might not be the Richest man in Africa if he was not the son of Mohammed Dangote and Mariya Sanusi Dantata

Jim Rohn would probably not have a net worth of 500 million dollars before his death without having met his mentor, J. Earl Shoaf.

Bolaji Balogun might not have been as accomplished as he is today without his father Chief Olasubomi Balogun grooming him for success.

I am not saying who you know or the son of whom is the only contributing factor to what makes successful people what they are today. Because I don’t know the details of these people’s lives and experiences. But it can be an important factor.

Can you imagine a 5 foot 6 Lebron James? I bet not. Is his height an advantage in becoming the best? Absolutely.

Is Ohio, where he grew up, an advantage? Absolutely. He might not be one of the greats if he was born in Vancouver, Canada, or Lagos, Nigeria.

And the same goes for successful women I can name off my head like Mo Abudu, Folorunsho Alakija, Blessing Abeng, Ibukun Awosika etc.

Every successful person has an advantage and they put in a lot of work to judiciously use them as leverage to succeed.

Now, having advantages seems pretty unfair.

But is it though? Don’t you think it is unfair to those that don’t have the same advantages you have today?

You have at least one parent supporting you when the going gets rough, you have a smartphone, you went to a private school and you are not blind because you can read this. Don’t you think it is unfair to people that don’t have parents, have never used a smartphone, have never gone to school, or are reliant on a stick to move?

For example,

being tall and agile with big hands and a big build can be a huge factor in deciding who gets to be picked for a basketball team line-up.

Does such a person deserve to be tall? or born with great genes. No!

That is just life. And I hope you are grateful for the advantages you have.

And if you think you don’t have an advantage, you can create one. That’s not news. That's actually the method we know.

For example,

You applying for a job where you tick all the boxes,

• such as at least 3 years of experience
• can use so, so, so-and-so tools.
• You are fluent in English
• And you know the job well.
• Plus you graduated first class.

You have been building advantages years before that day to earn you that job.

Advantages are not all unmerited. Being successful is not totally dependent on your parents or the schools you attended. You can have merited advantages such as your habits, skills, your communication style, character, etc.

Onto the most important part of your read, How can we apply our advantages to succeed?

• Find what you have that others don’t that complements you in achieving your goals: An advantage. Share them with the world and let people know you have them. The more you know them, the better you can highlight these advantages to be a beneficiary of an opportunity
• Try to choose paths you are more liable to succeed in because of your advantages.

Let’s assume you are trying to join a basketball team. You have not played basketball for more than three months. You don’t have anybody that has played basketball around you. You don’t have a basketball team in your school. You don’t have a court you regularly train at. You are not tall. You are not fast. You don’t have a big build. You can’t jump high. You are in a losing game already. You have no advantage whatsoever. A footballer that consistently trains has a better chance of joining that basketball team than you. I am not telling you to do only things you have an advantage. But having an advantage is a huge leg up.

It is easier to grow when you have an advantage over others because you find pleasure in the fact that you have that advantage and you would like to keep that status.

• Increase your luck, an unmerited advantage, by being proactive. Take chances. Take the initiative and act. You want to get mentorship. Shoot your shot at your mentor. You never know. That might change your luck forever. Who in your network can you glean opportunities from? Where can I visit? What can I do?
• Create more advantages. Do the work. Plan ahead. What are the things I can learn and work hard for that can give me an advantage?

Money? Network? Skills? Certifications? Training?

Build away. Adapt. Make mistakes. Learn. Thrive.

The more you build yourself, the more you get opportunities that will lead to your success.

• Build advantages that synergize with each other. there is hardly any synergy between your ability to beatbox and being an HR manager.

Soft skills generally synergize with a lot of things and can prove helpful in your career. Just think about synergy when you want to acquire an advantage.

• Hope for the best. Stay optimistic.

Final thoughts

Your success might depend on skills such as effective communication, public speaking, great presentation skills, negotiation, your ability to visualize data for better comprehension, or your network.

And the more advantages you have, the more opportunities you get and the higher your chances of success.

This article reminds me of this famous quote in George Orwell’s novel, The Animal Farm.

“All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.”

“Life is unfair” some would say

“And so what?” I would retort back.

You have privileges that some will consider unfair under different situations and circumstances. That is just how life works. Just because you don’t have an advantage today doesn’t mean you won’t have tomorrow.

I wrote this article to share that success is not all hard work, but it is not random luck either. It is a combination of your choices and the world around you working together in your favor.

My advice for you and me today is, always maximize the advantages we have or can get over others to reach our goal.

Adios.