Outliers

Books have played such an important role in my life that my only regret is not reading more of them. I have often been referred to as "self taught"...but I'm not convinced that picking up a book and learning from it means that you're truly "self taught". Regardless, books on management, marketing and team building are a constant staple in my life.

One of the authors I've encountered along the way has been Malcolm Gladwell. This talented author of books such as Blink and the Tipping Point has a unique gift of observation that he examines and supports through his research and writings. He applies a "social science" to exploring phenomena that is otherwise abstract and mystical. I highly recommend both Blink and Tipping Point.

Recently, my dear friend and I traded books. I gave her 5 Temptations of a CEO and she in turn gave me Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. As you may expect, I was excited to read this new book that sought to explain the "story of success".

The best way to describe this experience can be found in a memory of a date I once went on. This young woman worked at the same bank that my mother managed and, after seeing her a number of times, my lust gave way to finally asking her on a date. She was stylish from head-to-toe and had an infectious smile. The cheerleader type who probably started wearing makeup at 13 and just now had grown into it. She was...beautiful. I was very excited when she agreed to go out on a date with me. I left the bank that day with a little swagger in my step as she blushed and gave a flirty wave 'goodbye'.

The night of the date I was absolutely floored at how fast the fantasy in my mind gave way to a relentless need to get out of there as soon as possible. Within five minutes she had gone from beautiful dream date to nightmareish talking barbie. It was the equivalent of high-diving into an olympic-sized swimming pool and finding out it was only 2-foot deep. I don't remember how, but I abrubtly ended the date...never returned any of her calls and avoided her whenever I visited my mother at the bank.

Yeah, reading Outliers was something like that. Why? Well to give away the ending it's because he essentially boils down success to 5 parts luck, 5 parts heritage and 1 part hard work. Hard work, determination and heart are footnotes to the overtones of "Hey! Outliers [extremely successful people] are really not Outliers at all...they're people just like us who got lucky and had better parents (and oh they worked hard too)!"

Marc Wayne Intimates has been an incredible journey. Like any conception some of the most amazing things happen when they're almost too small for others to see. But throughout this journey and every journey of success I've taken I've found one thing to be very true. Success is a choice made over and over and over again. Many times it's the choice to surrender to the process of getting up after you fall off the horse just so that you can fall off and get back up again. Other times it's the choice to work well after you have nothing left to give. It's the lessons learned in that process that work together with principles of opportunity that breed success. The more any of those factors increase the more successful you become.

Outliers are indeed "Outliers" for the very reason that they find extraordinary resolve and focus to achieve extraordinary success. It's true that luck and opportunity find such people and it's true that upbringing plays an important part but the single most important ingredient is CHOICE. You have to choose to pursue success at any cost. God can lead you to mountains of gold but He won't make you pick it up...let alone sell it at a profit.