Extraordinary Success is Within Our Reach — A Seagull and a Cognitive Psychologist Show Us How
1. “We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill.”
This quote, which has long been a strong motivating and inspiring force for me, is from a short fable, “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”, authored by Richard Bach. In this metaphorical parable, Bach, a pilot by training, through the life of a fictional seagull, depicts the mindset necessary to achieve success in one’s profession or career and contains plenteous tips on how we can achieve extraordinary success.
In this article, I am discussing a few maxims from the fable which I have found very inspiring. Following the maxims, I elucidate the thoughts of the author together with additional notes (where necessary) clarifying or expanding upon the maxim.
The headline quote, in my opinion, is similar to the quote by W. Somerset Maugham, “It’s a very funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.” Both these quotes prod us to first dream, and then work towards realizing that dream. What Bach and Maugham are suggesting is that, essentially, we never get a thought without the ability to make such thoughts a reality. Of course, once a thought arises, we have to work towards accomplishing it, otherwise the wishes are nothing but merely “castles in the air.”
2. (a) “Your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip,” Jonathan would say, “is nothing more than your thought itself, in a form you can see. Break the chains of your thought, and you break the chains of your body, too.”
(b) “You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way.”
(c) “The only true law is that which leads to freedom”, Jonathan said. “There is no other.”
(d) “He spoke of very simple things — that it is right for a gull to fly, that freedom is the very nature of his being, that whatever stands against that freedom must be set aside, be it ritual or superstition or limitation in any form.”
(e) “Everything that limits us, we have to put aside.”
In these five maxims, the author is encouraging us to think broadly, think differently, and think expansively. I believe Henry Ford also implied something similar when he said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right.” Our thoughts can limit us from scaling new heights, or they can encourage us and give us the drive to succeed. We have to train our mind to think that we can do it and that is the first step on the path to achieving extraordinary success. We then need to engage in relentless pursuit of our goal. If we are petrified of taking risks, essentially, we are increasing the chances of failing in our endeavors.
3. “His one sorrow was not solitude, it was that other gulls refused to believe the glory of flight that awaited them; they refused to open their eyes and see.”
How often our acts are dictated by the thought, “what will others think?” Propelled by the desire to please others, or not being thought of as a fool, we refuse to pursue our dreams. Very often, when we venture upon something new; something radical; something that has not been done before; people laugh at us, ridicule us, and discourage us. Some common phrases thrown at us include, “it will never work”; “this is outlandish”; or even “this is crazy.” Innovators ignore the naysayers and pursue their dreams and it is to these daring innovators that we owe all progress. We should follow our convictions, not of others. If our focus remains on pleasing others, it is highly unlikely we will achieve any success, neither will we succeed in pleasing anyone. Bach elaborates this concept more lucidly in another book, ‘Illusions’, where he says, “I do not exist to impress the world. I exist to live my life in a way that will make me happy.” Admittedly, while we should pursue what makes us happy, we have to be mindful of the needs, emotions, and sentiments of our loved ones and strike a balance such that we accomplish what we desire without offending anyone.
4. “Like everything else, Fletcher. Practice.”
Jonathan, while teaching his students, stresses the importance of practicing if we desire to become the best, or among the best, in our field. The important role that practice, or more specifically, ‘deliberate practice’ plays in determining whether not we become experts in our field has been researched extensively by Dr. K. Anders Ericsson, a cognitive psychologist, who spent his entire career studying experts in several fields. Dr. Ericsson found that achieving expertise was the result not of natural talent but of hard work, or “deliberate practice,” as he described it. “Consistently and overwhelmingly”, his research showed that experts are “always made, not born” explaining that when it came to the development of experts and other masters of their craft, nature took a back seat to nurture. In a paper published in the Harvard Business Review, he wrote that “The development of genuine expertise requires struggle, sacrifice, and honest, often painful self-assessment. There are no shortcuts. It will take you at least a decade to achieve expertise, and you will need to invest that time wisely, by engaging in “deliberate” practice — practice that focuses on tasks beyond your current level of competence and comfort.”
Dr. Ericsson’s research was also used by Malcom Gladwell his book, “Outliers” (2008) and Angela Duckworth in her book, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” (2018). Partly dismayed that Gladwell oversimplified his research by stating that 10,000 hours is the magic number one must practice before gaining expertise in any given field, Dr. Ericsson published his findings in the book “Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise” (2016, co-authored with Dr. Robert Pool). In an interview given to “The Psych Report”, Dr. Ericsson claimed that “there is nothing magical about the 10,000 hours number, rather that the way a person practiced, or “deliberate practice” mattered just as much, if not more, than the amount of time they committed to their craft. “Deliberate practice”, he continued, “occurred at the edge of one’s comfort zone” and involved setting specific goals, focusing on technique and obtaining immediate feedback from a teacher or mentor.”
Summary
In this article, my objective was not to comprehensively discuss the “Science of Achievement” but provide a high-level view. The key lessons from the research done on this subject are:
(a) We must first identify a field we desire to gain expertise in;
(b) Believe that we can achieve that goal; and
(c) Dedicate ourselves to gain mastery in our chosen field by extensive deliberate practice.
For those wanting to achieve extraordinary success, further reading may not be required but if you desire to pursue the concept at a deeper level, you may want to start with the sources mentioned in this article and then, if still necessary, consult other resources.
Life is Precious….Live Well!
