What do I know anyway?

The reason I feel qualified to talk about this subject is that I have learnt about it through painful experience. In a moment of stupidity in 2002, I decided to do a backflip off a two-metre high wall. It didn’t go to plan; I was in a coma in ICU for a couple of days, spent four weeks in hospital and was forced to take three months out of medical school. The doctors didn’t expect me to make a full recovery; they said I’d certainly never compete in skiing again, would probably not return to medical school, and could be affected for the rest of my life.

Well, I have indeed been affected ever since, but not in the way that was predicted.

I think that life lessons can occur in three ways. First there’s the feather: the little tickle that suggests to you that change is needed. Then there’s the brick, which is less subtle. Ignore that and the Mack truck comes through and teaches you the lesson the hard way. My head injury was my metaphorical Mack truck. From it I learnt not to take things for granted – and I decided that there is more to life than just achievement.

What is success?

Firstly I think it’s worth considering what success isn’t. The success I’m talking about does not involve cars, boats, houses and flashy watches. These things have their place, of course, but they are not everything. So what is success really? I believe that it’s loving what you do; it’s getting out of bed excited about what the day will bring. To my mind, success in the career context is the experience of being absorbed in the present.

The Pareto Principle and how it relates to success

The Pareto Principle (also known as the 80–20 rule) is a rule of thumb in business which states that, for many events, roughly 80% of effects derive from 20% of causes. It is usually applied in terms of the mechanics of what we do; that is, 80% of results come from 20% of actions. This is undoubtedly valuable in the business setting: by looking at where you are most productive, who your most productive customers are and where most of your sales are coming from, you can focus greater effort in those areas. It is an established way to grow a business.

But the Pareto Principle can also be applied at the personal level, albeit using somewhat different variables. From my experience in business, and from what I’ve seen of those who have ‘succeeded’ to varying degrees, personal success is roughly 80% psychological and 20% mechanical. I’ve seen people do all the right things with the wrong mindset and not get results, and I’ve seen people seemingly do all the wrong things but become very successful through strength of will. To put it another way, success in life can be considered 80% art and 20% science. This is not a particularly controversial idea, so it’s surprising how much we tend to think about it as being the other way around.

Dr Sam Hazledine is Managing Director of MedRecruit, a locum agency that believes in assisting doctors to create a life and career.