About a year ago I shared the blog post “5 Lessons for Success” (which I highly recommend you read if you found yourself clicking on this article). While there are some similarities between the two posts, I would argue that what we’re talking about today is much more abstract, while the previous article gives you some concrete steps for achieving whatever you define success to be.

“There is some suc(k) in success” is what I like to share with people that come to me for advice. It’s also a mantra I remind myself as I hop from decision to decision. Why? While 99% of the time I argue for the glass half full view, success is one of those things that I find the need to be absolutely transparent around. In the world of social media, we see the destination and not the journey. Somehow, success has taken on the role of “easy” when in fact it’s the total opposite. If becoming successful was easy, everyone would do it.

3 things successful people do

1 ) they make sacrifices

Anyone that has immigrated to the USA will likely tell you stories of hardship and leaving family behind all for one little word – “opportunity.” Maybe you haven’t done anything as extreme as move oceans away from your loved ones. But it could be as simple as deciding to take a job offer in another city, or taking the risk to start your own business. I know that for me, I moved two states away from my family, my significant other and my friends for an amazing job offer. That first year was so rough. I knew I was advancing my career, and I knew that I loved my job, but I had to fight the urge to run home where it was safe and comfortable.

Every panel discussion I’ve listened to and every 1:1 I’ve had with respected leaders in my community has all come back to that other little word – “sacrifice.”

“I had to sacrifice time with my family for my career”
“I had to sacrifice the comfort of being around my friends for an opportunity.”
“I sacrificed for years – working 60 hour weeks, making minimum wage, all for my dream.”

Sound familiar? And let me add that with that sacrifice, comes the baggage of fear, anxiety, confusion, and questioning. Am I making the right decision? Am I going to be okay? Will I regret this later?

Someone once told me, being uncomfortable means that you’re likely pushing yourself to do new things and expand your growth. Being comfortable probably means that you need to make a change. Usually discomfort and sacrifice go hand in hand.

2) they have a vision & are an architect

In my experience, people tend to ignore the “vision” element of success. I love to use the story of Adobe’s CEO Shantanu Narayen as an example. While working his way up at Adobe, he knew that he wanted to become CEO one day. Consequently, he took on roles in each of the different orgs in order to build up the skill set he needed to truly understand the business. You can’t just wake up one more and decide you want to be a CEO. Before that, you need to become an architect.

I try to think of my career and my life like building a high-rise. You might spend quite a while designing your “building,” and by the time you get to see the finished product, it might be a couple years down the road. Regardless of what you want to do, whether it’s change careers, start a family, get an education, you need a vision. And that vision needs to be something that you can breakdown into steps in order to achieve it.

Disclaimer: life happens. Sometimes you can plan all you want and something throws a wrench in your plans. That’s just life. So pro tip – have a vision and a plan but be prepared to be flexible and change elements based on what life hands you.

3 ) they learn to fail fast

This is another one of those business buzz phrases. Failing fast is the idea that you should always try new things and take risks, but if it doesn’t work out, be prepared to move on (quickly). Most people are afraid of trying new things because they are afraid of failure. I would argue that if you’re not trying new things, are you even really succeeding? As long as you know the signs of a sinking ship, it’s okay to hop on and off.