The Hidden Reason Why People Succeed In Life.
Is Success Bred From Your Parents?
Whether it’s the things that were exposed to you from when you were young, to the morals that are engraved into your character. I think we can all agree on the fact that your parents play a huge role in moulding you into the person you became today.
In a recent podcast, Gregg Hoffman, the former Chief Marketing Officer at Nike and the author of ‘Emotion By Design’, highlighted the importance of the role his parents played in his success.
Hoffman shared a room with 2 of his brothers and in this room, his parents had allocated a wall in which they could draw, paint or sketch anything they wanted. Over time, Gregg started to take advantage of this and essentially created a mural in the bedroom. He said that this was where he painted sports logos and learnt the art of how logos and symbols create a story of emotion, driving his passion for art, sports and marketing, to go on and be the head CMO for Nike for over 3 decades.
“Through that, (the mural wall) I started to understand how your art can communicate and those logos and visual communication that I saw, started to peak my interests”
This got me thinking, is it a must for your parents to have given you some sort of habitual behaviour in order for you to gain interest in your craft and later succeed at it in the future?
Darren Hardy, the author of The Compound Effect, talks about how his dad, a former university football coach, hardwired him for achievement.
“No matter what the challenge, he (dad) taught me to make up in hard work for wherever I might be disadvantaged. Miss free throws at the game? Do one thousand free throws every day for a month. Not good at dribbling with your left hand? Tie your right hand behind your back and dribble three hours a day, work like hell all summer until you get it”
A lot of the discipline we gain as an adult is just a continued behaviour from our past upbringing.
However, this doesn’t mean that without motivated parents, you cannot succeed. Steve Jobs, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy etc are all successful in their craft and were all born into foster care and adopted at a young age.
Discipline, creativity and passion can all be curated from an individual's genuine interests without the help of their parents. But, can we say that those with supporting parents are more likely to succeed? It’s something to think about.
Have a great week!
Abdullah
Check out my Blog & FREE eBook with lifestyle tips talking about my journey from rejection in medical school to now getting within the top 10% in the UK.
