Keys To Success: Master The Fundamentals!
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Do you suffer from "technique-itis?"
Techniqueitis is a common (if made up) problem where people keep trying to learn more and more techniques rather than mastering the basics. When a person suffers from techniqueitis they tend to believe that the key to their success lies in learning more and more "stuff."
I love to read and listen to audios on various topics that can help my personal and professional life. Recently, I was standing in line at a bookstore and at the checkout they had a display of CDs. One of them was on "Sales Success" and consisted of 14 CDs by various famous speakers, many of whom I respect and enjoy listening to. The whole package was only around $50, and I seriously considered buying it. I paused however, and realized that while these CDs would probably have a lot of great information, I didn't really need them. Not because I am such a great salesperson, but because when it comes to sales, I (in my opinion) haven't mastered the fundamentals yet. Learning new techniques would just be a way to fool myself into thinking I was getting better by learning more, when in fact what I really needed to do was master what I already knew.
In any endeavor, there are hundreds of things you can focus on to be "successful." In fact, for most things there are hundreds of experts and thousands of books (at least) that go into great detail about the various principles, tools, and techniques you must apply to be successful.
Here's a little secret: success is usually not very complicated. It's actually quite simple.
Before you get up in arms about that statement, remember, there is a difference between being "simple" and being "easy":
Simple - not elaborate or artificial; plain; not complicated
Easy - not hard or difficult; requiring no great labor or effort
Through those definitions, you can see that when I say that success is simple what I mean is that the principles of success are not elaborate or complicated, but that they may require labor and effort. Real success is simple but hard.
When we get caught up in the huge tomes of techniques or attend 8 week classes or full weekend retreats, it's usually because we are looking for something complicated but easy.
Do I think there is no value in learning the dozens and hundreds of principles or techniques? Not at all – mastery of an area is a wonderful and useful thing. In my experience though, people mistake quantity for mastery. They know hundreds of things but haven't mastered the simple fundamentals that lead to success first. Going in depth on a topic is only useful once a base level of expertise has been established.
I have seen this in many areas:
Improv Comedy – There are really only a few key fundamentals to doing great improv: be spontaneous, be willing to fail, listen to others, incorporate everything, and move forward. There are many other useful techniques, but a performer who does just the things I have listed here will be great. Most performers don't put in the effort to master those skills.
Business – Succeeding in business is simple. Larry Winget, a professional speaker, author, and host of A&E's "Big Spender," summed up what it takes to succeed in business best: "Have a great product and ask lots of people to buy it." If you are not succeeding in business it's because you are lacking in one (or both) of those things. People will argue this point, but if you take an honest look at things, you'll realize that it's a simple but profoundly true statement.
Martial Arts – Many martial arts schools have dozens of forms, or katas, for students to learn, along with hundreds of basics, self defense techniques, sparring, and often history, tradition, and even pressure points. At the end of the day though, none of those matter without simple fundamentals: footwork, balance, body mechanics, timing, and range control. The other stuff can be incredibly useful, but without fundamentals it's all academic.
Marketing – Marketing can seem like a daunting task. There are many techniques, reports, and analytical tools that seem to go into marketing. All of these are useful, but only as support for the fundamentals. To market effectively you need to: 1) know the true value you or your product is offering, 2) know who needs that value, 3) know what's unique about your offering, and 4) get in front of the people who need your value.
The most challenging part of all of this is identifying the fundamentals. Most people never even bother to think about it. The nice thing is just by opening your awareness to the fact that there are fundamentals, you will be much more open to finding them.
The two best ways to identify the fundamentals are instruction and experience.
Instruction – Many people have gone before us and we can learn from them. With the right instruction, you can figure out what the key fundamentals are for you. This instruction can be with a "live" teacher in a class or seminar or with a "virtual" instructor in the form of books, audios, and videos. Many, many, instructional products tend to focus on techniques instead of fundamentals, but if you look, you may find one that helps you out.
Experience – Your own experience may be the best method to identify the fundamentals. Every situation and person is different, so you will best know what fundamentals apply to you. The key is to keep your mind open to mastering the basics. When something is not working for you, rather than running out and looking for a new technique, see if you can identify which fundamental you haven't yet mastered. It may take trial and error and time, and you may find that what you think is important now turns out to not be as important as you think, but as long as you are trying and progressing, you will uncover what you need to know.
Once you have identified the fundamentals, the next step is to go about mastering them. Unfortunately, many people don't bother. Here are a few reasons that cause people to skip the fundamentals:
Fundamentals are boring – It's true. Mastering the basics is boring. Doing 1,000 jabs in karate, practicing endless scales in music, and getting out and asking people to hire you in business can be boring. It's much more exciting and glamorous to learn jumping spinning kicks, play elaborate musical pieces, and develop a cool new web technology that's going to draw clients to you effortlessly. All that stuff is useful, but only after you have mastered the fundamentals.
Also, as human beings, we like to push and expand ourselves and constantly learn new things. Balancing those urges with a view on the big picture however, may be the key to achieving real success.
Mastery is hard – We've all seen stories of the "overnight success." This is the person who came out of nowhere and hit huge success. What most people fail to see is the years of hard, hard work that went into the person being that good.
It takes a lot of discipline to repeat the basics over and over. Most people are content to "get a handle" on things and move on. It's ok to move on, but even while learning new things it is imperative that you keep practicing and improving the fundamentals. It's also hard because working on the basics doesn't mean that you go through them half-minded. Every time you practice you must focus on what you are doing and pay attention to the little details and have an eye on getting better and better each time. That is hard, and that is why most don't bother.
"It can't be so simple" – It is easier for us to believe that success is complicated rather than simple, because if it were simple and we didn't achieve it, then we would have only ourselves and our lack of will to blame. If it's complicated, then we have an excuse for not succeeding. Unfortunately it is simple, and it just takes disciplined effort to achieve it.
There are so many techniques out there - so many experts are selling so many systems with so many techniques – that it's easy to believe that all of those techniques are vital. There are two things to remember about this:
- Those techniques are useful after the basics have been mastered, not before.
- Quantity sells. Sad but true – If someone tried to sell you a system with only two ideas instead of 100, you wouldn't value it as much.
I am not missing the irony that I am saying this while I have a book out on "16 Principles of Improv Comedy" Am I a liar or a hypocrite? No, not at all. The book is written so the first few chapters cover the fundamentals. The chapters after that add in techniques and refinements, all of which are useful once the basics are down. (more info on the book: http://www.AvishParashar.com/store.asp)
I encourage you to take a look at any area in your own life, personal or professional, where you would like more success. Ask yourself the following:
What are the fundamentals in this area?
Have I mastered them yet?
What can I do daily to master these fundamentals?
Then begin taking those actions that lead to mastery. You will find your success coming quicker, easier, and more effortlessly than before. Also, you will be much more prepared to handle the unexpected things life throws at you once you have a solid foundation.
I am not decrying learning or techniques. They are wonderful things. But, to quote Larry Winget one more time, "Knowledge isn't power. The application of knowledge is power." Master the fundamentals and you will be in a position to apply all of the wonderful knowledge you acquire.
Avish Parashar is a dynamic professional speaker who shows organizations and individuals how to get what they want using the Art and Science of improv comedy. He weaves together humorous stories, witty observations, and interactive exercises from improvisational comedy to get people laughing, learning, and motivated! Avish is most commonly called upon to deliver programs on Motivation, Sales, and Communication
For more free articles, downloads, and resources, visit http://www.AvishParashar.com
To learn how to apply the powerful principles of improv comedy to your own business or life visit http://www.ImprovforEveryone.com
