The 5 Biggest Lies People Believe About Success

Irrespective of what we do, we all want to succeed. Every one of us wants to be a winner. But what is success? Who is a winner?

Here are 5 of the biggest, common lies most people believe about success that is actually holding them back.

1. Success means the same thing to everyone

It's surprising that some people think that success means the same thing to everyone, and they tend to generalize success.

Well, it doesn't. Success looks different for everyone.

Some people value success in pure cash and abundance of material possession. Some people value it in the freedom that cash buys. Some people see success in how many lives they impact for the better. And some people judge success by how well they perform any given task at any given moment.

The point is we should all define what success means to us and not live our lives measuring it to someone else's.

2. You Must Attend a 4-Year University

Finish school. Get a college degree. Guaranteed success.

Not quite.

Sure, a degree might help you find jobs. But it’s not necessary to become successful.

Nowadays you can gain knowledge and learn about almost any topic/subject from your fingertips, and that's what's important for success; knowledge and skills, not college transcripts spackled with A's and B's.

Self, continuous education has made more success than college degrees.

Think about it , the likes of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates , Mark Zuckerberg , Larry Ellisson, Michael Dell , Kanye West aren't this successful because of a mere degree. Matter-of-fact , they are all college drop-outs.

But of course you should go to college if you want to become a surgeon.

3. Success is having it all

The next myth is believing success is having it all — the six-figure CEO job, the family, the beach house, etc.

You definitely should look out for your health, but success is not having it all. That's why you should be clear on what success means to you.

Irrespective of what anyone says, you need to make certain sacrifices to succeed. Our lives will never be a perfect balance of everything. You need to choose what needs to be sacrificed now so that you can have what you want more of. For all of us, life requires tradeoffs and choices.

4. Everything Matters Equally

Every single person has 24 hours in a day…so why is it that some people, like Elon Musk, are wildly successful, while others are broke as a joke? It’s because the men who are successful know that not everything matters equally.

The men that are successful dedicate 90% of their time to knocking out the “big things,” or the “one thing,” that matters, rather than running around and frantically trying to accomplish 25 trivial tasks.

The tasks that matter the MOST are the ones that are going to propel you towards success and help you create a positive self-amplifying feedback loop. Not all tasks and goals are created equal—learn to distinguish the trivial ones from the important ones.

- Jon Anthony