The Three P’s of Success

The year I graduated from Harvard, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, was our commencement speaker. The main thing I took away from his talk was his discussion of his “instant success.” It wasn’t instant, he said. They had tried and failed in several earlier attempts, learned from their mistakes, and started over. He taught me something that has encouraged me ever since: even what appear to be instant successes weren’t really instant. Success is a skill, not a lottery.

Prudence is an often-overlooked virtue. Love, peace, joy, hope, and kindness may be far more attractive and interesting, but the truth is, without good old common sense, they don’t get very far. God loved us so much he sent his son – but he didn’t send him right after the Fall as a blind, knee-jerk reaction. Rather, he sent him “in the fullness of time,” as part of a wider plan. And if even God plans his works of love, how much more should we, whose best intentions so often go awry?

Success: an Unpleasant Formula

The key to success isn’t really a secret; it’s just a truth that’s annoying to admit. As the saying goes, “the harder I work, the luckier I get.” A study recently showed that key elements to a person’s success included the ability to delay gratification, conscientiousness, a sense of responsibility, and perseverance under pressure. All of which could be grouped under the term “work ethic,” and none of which are particularly pleasant at the time. But this list of traits leaves something out. I use what I might call “the three P’s” to get myself back on track when I feel like I’m being overwhelmed.

Prioritize

The first P is Prioritize. This is what the earlier list leaves out. We have to begin at the beginning. If we do a great job delaying gratification and persevering in pursuit of the wrong thing, it will do us no good. We have to start by deciding what’s important – and being willing to get rid of the things that aren’t. Hebrews 12 tells us that in order to “run with endurance” we must “lay aside every weight, and [sin].” Notice that it isn’t just sin we lay aside; it is all the unnecessary things that are taking our time and energy. 2 Timothy tells us that as soldiers of Christ we must not “entangle ourselves in civilian affairs.” Sin keeps us from following God. But so does distraction.

A couple of days ago I watched a movie about a group of men who stole 250 million dollars from a South American cartel. They attempted to flee in a helicopter with the money, but the weight was too heavy to allow them to fly over the Andes. They weren’t willing to let it go, and instead of making it away, they crashed along with their loot. Sometimes, we crash and burn not because God wants us to fly too high, but because we are still carrying around extra baggage.

Plan

The second P is Plan. This is the one that often trips me up. I know what I need to get done, but I don’t want to put the effort in to plan, because I know it will mean doing more work in the short term to avoid disaster down the road. Planning almost always means delaying gratification, choosing present pain to avoid future problems. It’s far easier to skip this step and then act surprised when the problems emerge later on and there’s no longer a way to avoid them. “Oh, well. I shouldn’t have dropped the ball, but I just have so much to do. Some things are going to fall through; I can’t help that.” Oh, yes, I can. Deep down, I know that. But it’s hard to put that extra level of work in on the front end.

Push Through

The third P is Push Through. Pushing through involves continuing until we get the job done, whether it’s pleasant or not. This doesn’t mean giving up work-life balance; we run with “endurance,” not speed. But we run until we finish the race. Moreover, we don’t run while complaining about how hard it is or inwardly thinking how impressive we are to keep going. Gratitude, not resentment or pride, is the key to joy, even when life is unpleasant. We must learn to think of obstacles as opportunities.

I know a lot of people who like to skip the first two P’s and jump straight to pushing through, but that isn’t a recipe for success; it’s a recipe for burnout. It is not to your credit if you end up keeping ridiculous hours because you didn’t prepare on the front end. That doesn’t prove you’re a hard worker; it proves you’re a poor planner. And if you work long hours not because you need to, but because you want to be seen working long hours, it’s a sign your priorities need adjusting.

The Long Road

Of course, sometimes long hours are necessary. Sometimes, even when you prioritize and plan, there just aren’t enough hours in the day, and you stumble home exhausted every night only to do it all over again in the morning. I’ve done that before; I’m sure I’ll do it many more times. But I know where I’m headed, and I know what it takes to get there, and I’m willing to give whatever it takes. Because focused perseverance is what success is made of.

“A Simple Medal For A Simply Named Race” by slgckgc is licensed under CC BY 2.0