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it is often too late to try to expand the envelope. This exploration must come from a position of strength, not one of desperation. Therefore, beware of the success trap and the false security of lateral growth. Ironically, to grow, you must fail periodically so that you are continually aware of opportunities for improvement and for expanding your envelope. This discipline will not only provide for internal stimulation, but also infiuence how the external world views you. Note particularly that to move from about the midpoint of the first S-curve to the bottom of the next S-curve is relatively simple, but attempting to go from the right of the success trap to the midpoint or above of the next S-curve requires extraordinary thrust and escape velocity. This is the insidious nature of the success trap—the longer you stroll down it, the harder it is to reach the next level. Million dollar consultants often fail. In fact, their confidence emanates from their lack of fear of failing. As I said, if you’re not failing, you’re not trying.
Digression In the history of predation and hunting, scientists estimate that predators are successful only about 10 percent of the time. Tyrannosaurus rex required 10 hunts to feed itself and its family, as does the modern cheetah on the savannah of Africa or those pelicans you see diving while you lounge on a Caribbean beach. Think about that. Failure is a prerequisite to success. The key is to learn from it so that your average improves to one in eight, or one in five.
THE BRAND IS YOU If you think that people don’t judge books by their covers, just take a gander at the cars around you on the freeway. People buy cars to say something about themselves, whether the object of their affection is a staid Volvo, a rakish Corvette, a middle-American Toyota, an aloof Mercedes, an exotic Aston Martin, or a master-of-the-universe Bentley. In fact, an automobile is the most expensive lifestyle statement that most people ever make. Yet this extension of one’s personality into the acquisitions one makes—a sort of anthropomorphism gone wild—embraces ballpoint pens as well as works of art, and jogging suits as well as cultural events.