Not sure I buy into #1. I’m a fervent believer in #2 and #3.
I’ve mastered #2. There’s considerable work required on #3.
“The strikingly successful groups in America today share three traits that, together, propel success. The first is a superiority complex — a deep-seated belief in their exceptionality. The second appears to be the opposite — insecurity, a feeling that you or what you’ve done is not good enough. The third is impulse control….
It’s odd to think of people feeling simultaneously superior and insecure. Yet it’s precisely this unstable combination that generates drive: a chip on the shoulder, a goading need to prove oneself. Add impulse control — the ability to resist temptation — and the result is people who systematically sacrifice present gratification in pursuit of future attainment.
But this success comes at a price. Each of the three traits has its own pathologies. Impulse control can undercut the ability to experience beauty, tranquillity and spontaneous joy. Insecure people feel like they’re never good enough…A superiority complex can be even more invidious. Group supremacy claims have been a source of oppression, war and genocide throughout history.”
~ Amy Chua & Jed Rubenfeld, What Drives Success?
Read entire article in NY Times: What Drives Success? Worthy…
Live & Learn 
This was a good article…..
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Yes, thought provoking
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I’m not sure i buy into the article, though the supposition is really interesting.
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I believe 2 & 3 are true. Not sure of 1. Didn’t say it was healthy…just believe hypothesis is true.
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We’re in the same car, I think. Although writing and reading here (among other things I’m doing now) are helping me speed up, to get to where I want to go. Thanks for the wonderful vehicle of this post today, David.
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Thanks Ann. And here’s to adding to the dissonance…Check out this link titled:
THE GAP BETWEEN WHO YOU ACTUALLY ARE AND WHO YOU HOPE TO BECOME NEVER SEEMS TO CLOSE:
http://thrive.davidkanigan.com/post/74623554769/the-gap-between-who-you-actually-are-and-who-you-hope
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I’ll confess to being driven by all three, except I was a terrible student while in school, oh so many years ago and, so never received a bumper sticker.
I would argue with the wording of #1 though. I don’t think of myself as “superior,” but as being confident that what is out there to be known, as others have have already discovered and shared with us, I can know too.
I am very driven by what calls to me, but also truly believe that others have the same capacity, and are also called, even if our gifts manifest in different ways.
Debra
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Well put Debra…
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makes sense to me
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2/3rds of it did for me LouAnn
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A great read! I think you need grit to use whatever IQ you have. The 3 factors make sense to me – I know exactly a person like that from the groups the article mentioned. Culture and tradition really do play a big part.
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Grit. That’s the secret sauce…
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yes, grit is where it’s at.
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Grit is it!
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a good t-shirt slogan maybe?
grit is it.
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There is probably some money in that!
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I am he as you are he as you are me
And we are all together.
– the beatles (i am the walrus)
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Wow, that was quick and witty!
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Yeah, I’d rather be mediocre.
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LAUGHING. Comment of the day!
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Finding Balance in The Land of Opportunists….
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That’s it…
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