”The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate”
-Malcolm Gladwell
What’s the personal tipping point?
It’s that moment when your portfolio of professional successes begins to build on itself. You have attended enough conferences, given enough speeches, won enough awards, to have finally to pass the point of needing to try for the next great accomplishment. Greatness just comes to you. Your success begets success. A small dose of success has some how snowballed into an avalanche of success and opportunities. You sometimes stop and ask yourself how the hell is all this happening to me? Feels familiar? Congratulations you have reached your personal tipping point. You’re not there? Ok, let’s discuss how to reach that “magical” point.
Note: This article is not going to waste time trying to enter a metaphysical and deep journey on what success is or should be for Generation Y.
How do I reach the personal tipping point?
Compound your success.
Over the past decade I have been studying young stars amongst Generation Y that reside around the world. Seeing what makes them tick and understanding their environment has allowed me to share some tips on how you can reach a point in which your success begets success.
It’s not a quick win but rather a series of strategic moves and lucky events that you must make and experience starting at high school or early university.
- Attend around 3-5 conferences (model un does not count)
- Earn 2 awards (national)
- Be a founder of something
- Get interviewed 2-3 times
After completed these initiatives you will notice that the amount of work needed to attend that 6th conference, earn the 3rd award, found another organization, get the 4th interview will diminish. In short, your next success will come easier to you. You just reached the personal tipping point.
The suggested numbers I used were based on what I have been seeing from around 20 young professionals who I have seen grow via social media tools such as facebook. Their age ranges from 18 to 28 and are based in various countries and come from different family backgrounds. It’s not a scientific nor is the sample size large enough to say this article is 100% correct. However, I do encourage you to take a look around you and see if you should take the advice.
As I said at the start, it’s kinda like compound interest “which is, interest added to the principle of a deposit so that the added interest also earns interest from then on”. You’re going to have to work very hard and be very lucky to have these opportunities pop up but once you get your ducks in order, you can breathe a bit and enjoy your success. Your success compounds and you will experience exponential growth.
But Shaaz, I already hit those quotas and I still have to work as hard as ever for the next accomplishment.
In short, you have the wrong friends around you or/and the variables you cannot control are playing a far more negative roll in your life. Double the numbers and find more like minded friends.
Things you can’t control: name, geography, parents, and the world economy
If you do aspire to hit these numbers and reach the personal tipping point, I urge you to first understand your barriers.
Name and Geography
Sadly your name on the resume matters as much as the content. Once you have finished your rant on how wrong society is, calm down and face the facts of life. You will need to ensure your content is that much better than the rest. Another factor you cannot control is where you were born and raised. I am sure if I was born and spent most of my life in a country that is less developed than Canada and America, I would not have been who I am today.
Having the right documents have really helped others develop a lot faster with a strong ecosystem of social, economic, and cultural activities. Having the right name and being born in the right country at the right time, will help you reach your personal tipping point a lot faster than otherwise. Although, you can’t do much about it, it’s still worth understanding.
World Economy
The world economy has been in the gutter since 2009 and will remain so most likely until 2020. If you were in the labor market in 2004, life would have been perfect. Depending on the industry, your salary offer and job options would have been plentiful. Sadly you are not in 2004 and life around you is dismal. Embrace the fact that you cannot control the world economy. Since your options and opportunities are limited, take the shots you have at going global.
Parents
Poor begets poor. Middle income begets middle income. Rich begets rich. Studies around the world show that you will most likely earn around the same yearly income as your parents. Now I can hear you shout, SHAAZ what about Mark Zuckerberg!? What about Richard Branson!? These people are outliers not the norm, and chances are you will never see their level of success. Don’t be sad, once you embrace reality you can begin to take the steps needed to try and position yourself to enter a higher economic class than your parents. You have to accept that it’s going to very hard making more money than your parents.
Ok…thanks…I am depressed now but I am ready to try and reach my personal tipping point
Good. Enjoy these links that will help you hit the quotas. Remember the things you cannot control but also remember the power of compounding your success to ensure you have to work less and less to achieve more and more. The sooner you start the faster you will see the benefits of compounding your success and hitting your personal tipping point.
Key Links to Grants, Awards, Conferences, and more