Why gaining SUCCESS is SIMPLE

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Hey, hope you're well. Before we jump into this week's newsletter, happy to inform you my next song is titled "MEWA (TEN)" and should be out in September....hopefully 😅.Here's your digest for this week. Hope you find these, inspiring and encouraging.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

(it's a long one today, but worth it...please read through it)The path to success (whatever that looks like for you) is not linear. No matter what you’re trying to achieve, it’s rarely a straight path. Thankfully for you and I however, it is simple.How can this be? How can something be both non-linear and yet simple?That’s because success comes down to 3 indisputable stages.For anyone who has ever achieved anything of significance.From the most prominent public figures, to everyday people, you’ve never heard about (but who are succeeding in their fields of interest)…even to me in my personal journey of music and entrepreneurship,These 3 stages are ALWAYS true.I’m going to tell you what they are.I like to call this; The Success Formula or the 3 Ps of success.1 - PREPARATION (Working on your skills)

This is the stage at which you’re honing your skills. It can be a place of relative obscurity.At this point, you might not even know what you don’t know. The main point of the stage is to explore your interests and gain valuable hard and soft skills that can be exchanged for value in the marketplace.It is also during this phase that you might begin to get a sense of what your purpose (or life’s work) might be.Here you watch, listen, read, practice, and explore some more.You are making yourself more valuable in the marketplace.2 - POSITIONING (Putting those skills in the prime marketplace locations)

What good is a sailor in the desert? Or a pilot in a mine?You get the point. As you prepare by building up your skill stack, you begin positioning yourself in the right places and around the right communities.The harsh reality of the world is; who you know is often more powerful than what you know. More commonly phrased, “Your network is your net-worth”, is more true than many of us would like to admit. And while this can be unfairly applied, it’s also natural. Who are you more likely to give an opportunity to; the skilled stranger or the equally skilled friend?Almost every instance I’ve experienced a big win has been connected to a relationship I had built and cultivated.Positioning can be the difference between hitting that next stage or lamenting your unfulfilled potential.So start auditing your circle NOW.All friends, can’t be ALL friends.Basically, that means, you and I have to accept that we need different networks that we leverage for different things.And the more of these networks that you have, the more positioned you are to get the opportunities to apply the skills you’ve been so diligently developing.3 - PROVIDENCE (Allowing the other 2 Ps to coalesce into new opportunities)

This is the trickiest one as it exists outside of our control.Time and chance happen to all, as it says in the Bible.There is a mystery as to why some get specific opportunities and other’s don’t.Did you know that Joseph Swan was in fact the first inventor of the incandescent light bulb, not Thomas Edison?Why does Edison get all the credit and most have never heard about Swan?In part, providence.History is littered with many who were far ahead of their time, and the world is full of the most talented people, who will never be known, simply because the right opportunities will never cross their paths.I know the Thomas Jefferson quote “I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”Which was later simplified and popularized by Samuel Goldwyn, when he said, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.”Yes, you can do things to increase the chances of getting and creating opportunities for yourself….see the first two points.But still, there remains the element of providence - that which God freely chooses to bestow upon us in different measures. 

“For promotion comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge, putting down one and lifting up another." Psalm 75:6-7

Worth noting however, is that many opportunities don’t immediately look like opportunities.They don’t look attractive.They are often disguised as a challenge, risk or obstacle.But opportunities they are nonetheless, more easily recognized as such, if you’ve been preparing and positioning yourself for the moment the disguised opportunity is bestowed to you from on high.This is the tension we as mortals must live in.Knowing that our path to success sits partly in our hands but firmly in the hands of the divine.But in here lies yet another opportunity.Contentment brought about by defining for yourself what “success” is.It does not have to be one million dollars in the bank.Financial freedom can (and should be) part of it, but certainly not all of what success entails.The beauty here, is you get to define what that is for you.So there it is…the Success Formula; Preparation + Positioning + Providence.You need all 3.If you’re not prepared or properly positioned, you will not be able to take advantage of the opportunity or even see it as an opportunity when it arrives.And if you’re prepared and positioned, you still need certain things to happen that are out of your control, even though you’ve done everything you can to increase the likelihood of said opportunity.Finally, note that I did not say attaining success was easy.I said it was simple.Easy means something has little to no opposition to attaining it.Simple however, means there is little to no ambiguity to attaining it.Success is simple in that, you now know the 3 things you need to do, look for, and wait upon.Will it be easy, however?Unlikely!But that’s ok.That is part of what makes attaining “success” so sweet and gratifying.

VIDEO I ENJOYED THIS WEEK

Alex Hormozi Explains the Harsh Truth Of Being A Business Owner

I appreciate this video, because even though I advocate for independence and entrepreneurship, it's not easy. Perhaps I need to do a better job of not overly-glamorizing it. While I still think it's the best path for me, in a way only Alex can, this video so articulately provides the counterbalance. It's so good.Watch by clicking the image.

SONG I ENJOYED THIS WEEK

Chasing Peace Of Mind - Adekunle Gold, Ami Faku, Habib Koité

I've previously mentioned another song on the same album. This track however, has snuck up on me as another gem. A great way to intro the album.Listen now by clicking the image.

BOOK/ARTICLE I ENJOYED THIS WEEK

Emotionally Intelligent People Use a Brilliant 3-Word Phrase to Understand Others and Build Stronger Relationships

I'll be honest - I've been told I'm not the most empathetic guy in the world 🙄. It's something I need to improve on as a husband, father, brother, friend and leader. So I found this article helpful. Whether you're like me or better than I am in this regard, this is a great (and short) read.Enjoy the article by simply clicking the image.

That's it for this week.Love you,ShopéP.S. Don't forget to my latest YT video The #1 Reason HIGHLY DRIVEN people still FAIL

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