There have been a number of conversations I’ve had within the last few years where at a certain point, the topic shifts to success or recognition and why it might come to be. In these, some people attribute success to luck, some to a special trait, and it bothers me how so few of them attribute that success to people actually rolling up sleeves and making stuff happen.

To this point, Merlin Mann (relatively smart guy) said the following sentence in the most recent episode of Back to Work (go subscribe if you haven’t yet – it’s most certainly worth your time):

“It’s so repellent to me, this constant mantra about how some people have this special thing. Well, they don’t. They’re just willing to make sacrifices you’re not willing to make yet (or are not able to make yet).”

It pretty much sums up most of what I’ve been telling friends and people I engage in this kind of conversation with: the things you truly want to do somehow end up done because you unconsciously prioritize them ahead of everything else. And that most often the reason why some people seem to accomplish more things than regular folk is not because they can move time to their advantage: most often it all boils down to them not just talking about doing things, but actually doing them.

The worst kind of bullshit is the bullshit you tell yourself (read: the excuses for why you’re not doing something). And in this sense, I hear a whole lot of bullshit – but I guess we all do.