Bon Jovi vs. Bottle Rockets
5 Insights Into Sustained Success
When my friend called to say he had a free concert ticket I told him I wasn’t interested. Believe it or not, I had not yet heard of Bon Jovi, but I knew enough about my friend’s musical tastes to steer clear.
“No,” he responded, “you’ll like this band. They’re exactly your kind of rock. They’re really good.” So I went to Cobo Hall in Detroit that night and witnessed a young Jon Bon Jovi flying above the crowd, singing with Richie Sambora, and otherwise “seeing a million faces, and rocking them all.”
The next day I went out and bought the Slippery When Wet album, which had just been released. Little did I know this would begin a near-three decade process of listening enjoyment.
It doesn’t matter if you like Bon Jovi or not. The thing to consider is his (and his band’s) lasting success. I have always been fascinated by those who can accomplish true, large, lasting success. It is one thing to achieve a measure of accomplishment in life, it’s quite another to sustain it at a high level for a long time. Think Tom Brady or Jerry Rice in football, Ray Dalio in investing, Russel Crow or Meryl Streep in acting, Stephen King or John Grisham as novelists, Oprah Winfrey on television, and Billy Graham in preaching. All of these individuals (and many more of their ilk), not only ascend to the highest heights in their fields, but somehow also find a way to stay up there, like helium balloons floating against a ceiling that never leak empty and drift back down to the floor.
The much more common version of success is the kind my friend and co-author Orrin Woodward calls bottle rockets; a reference to the fireworks that fly into the air making all kinds of noise and then pop loudly, done and gone forever thereafter. I’m sure we can all think of many examples of “one hit wonders” (Golden Ear Ring, Margaret Mitchell — the author of Gone With the Wind, to name just two that spring to mind), and the story of an entrepreneur making millions and later crashing into bankruptcy is common in every town.
Top-level success is so amazingly difficult to achieve that few ever even get a glimpse of it, much less take up permanent residence there. So here is the question: what accounts for the difference between the bottle rockets (who are still extraordinary as they somehow manage to fly higher than almost anyone else, if even only for a moment) and those rare cases of lasting, sustained, high achievement?
How do they do it?
Entire books have been written on the subject, and it’s safe to say that it is nearly as difficult to explain as it is for these outstanding individuals to accomplish. But as the saying goes, success does leave clues. And if we look at those with lasting high level success, we can see some commonalities.
They became an original and created their own niche — It is very hard, if not impossible, to think of an example of a long-term, sustained high achiever who wasn’t an original. Each found a niche (or created one) and made it their own (think of Jimmy Buffett and tropical escapism). There appears to be a fine balance between creating something new and different while at the same time staying familiar enough to bring popular appeal. Being too far out there or too much ahead of one’s time never works. And obviously, neither does being a copy of someone else. But being just enough different (original) in a pleasing way and then owning that difference is a key component of lasting success. Think of that famous line of Maximus in the movie Gladiator: “I’ll win the crowd; I’ll give them something they’ve never seen before!”
They love what they do and bring lasting passion to it — Not only is lasting success rare because it can be so difficult to sustain popular appeal long term, but it is also difficult to continue the effort required to do so. Excellence take tremendous energy and exertion of will, and many people, once tasting some success, lose their hunger to continue to achieve. Money and accolades can soften the desire and take the fight out of even the best of us. Some, who might have clearly qualified for the long-term success category, such as Billy Joel (who hasn’t released a pop song since 1993), appear to just burn out and call it quits. Therefore, the super rare long-term top achievers must have a passion burning brighter than any temptation to quit or coast. It sustains them through the challenges, sure, but even more so, it powers them past the lure of comfort and ease. The lesson here is to do what you love so you can love what you do, even when it blesses you to the point you need no longer do it. Do what you do as an ongoing mission, not as a finite goal.
They stay true to who they are without becoming formulaic — Once creating and dominating a niche, you have to continue to own it, but you also can’t just stay the same. The trick is to stick with your brand without becoming stale. Some evolution and change is necessary, without getting too far away from what made you great in the first place. This is a very difficult balancing act, and it is perhaps what the long-term high achievers do better than anyone. You must adapt and change without leaving behind your core constituency. In the parlance of Silicon Valley, you can pivot, but be extremely careful redefining yourself. Disruptions and radical change are for those who haven’t yet succeeded, not for those who are at the top and are determined to stay there. Dynasties are established on solid principles, good habits, and a formula for success that really doesn’t change fundamentally. So run with your successes, don’t get tired of being you, and be careful burning bridges, while at the same time experimenting with creative advancement around the edges.
They seek first to serve and amaze their constituents — One obvious trait of long-term high achievers is their desire to thrill their fans. They truly care about serving their constituencies and imparting value to them. “Customer Satisfaction” is a tremendously understated phrase; a much more appropriate term for those who wish to establish out-bound, long-term success would be something along the lines of “Customer Amazement” or even “Customer Jubilation.” You go from creating a mere clientele to instead forming a community. When you truly care about the success of your constituents, it shows through in everything you do. Half-hearted measures and going through the motions are offensive and obvious to those you serve; so give your all, all the time. And remember that it’s not really about you or your success or your legacy at all; it’s about them, whom you serve. Dazzle them with every ounce of your ability as your first and only goal.
They don’t blow-up their lives with scandal or self-sabotage — Examples abound of those who could have been great, but couldn’t sustain it because of darkness elsewhere in their lives. As Abraham Lincoln once said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Success is a seriously precarious position. Being elevated to a great height only increases the risk and severity of the fall. But those who sustain amazing high-achievement over the long term somehow find ways to escape the demons that dethrone others. They manage to keep themselves grounded in private so they can continue to shine in public. This, too, is not easy. Keep yourself humble, surround yourself with good people and family, and ground yourself on healthy, productive principles. For if adversity didn’t defeat you on the way up, know that success on high will try to unhinge you instead. These two — adversity and success — work together against almost everyone, and those who can defeat them both are rare indeed.
Now, I know that studying success is fraught with the risk of oversimplification. For instance, one can fall prey to “survivorship bias,” which means studying only those who have succeeded, when there might be thousands of others who did these exact same things and yet didn’t succeed. I get that. But still, you could do worse than to pursue the above characteristics of long-term high-achievers. And we have to start somewhere.
Another thing to remember is that all success is not measured the same way. Don’t sign up for thinking the way that the world does, meaning, that success is measured in the currencies of fame and fortune. Success for you in your life may be measured in much different ways. But the key is that many of us should yearn to succeed in a sustained way, utilizing our God given gifts for maximum success, sustained over the long haul, however it may be measured.
Let’s face it; you may feel as if your life is no Bed of Roses and you’re Living on a Prayer, but maybe you too, can learn to be a Runaway success for Always, if you just Keep the Faith.
(You can follow Chris on his Facebook fanpage at Rascal Nation and on Instagram at cbrascal).
