When we look back, it’s tough to distinguish between the behaviors that lead to success and the situations in which we are successful despite our actions.

I used to think that I was successful in high school and college because I kept to myself and focused on my studies. I rarely did much talking in class (on the rare occasions that I attended in the first place) and I put almost all of my focus into scoring well on every assignment and exam that I received.

This behavior led to a high GPA, which made me a shoe-in to get an interview with just about anyone I wanted after college.

But as I’ve progressed in the professional world, I’m not so sure that this behavior actually has worked to my advantage.

Sure I probably got slightly better grades because of the approach I took, but I also missed out on opportunities to expand my realm of experiences and to build relationships with classmates who I’ll run into down the road.

So when I look back, can I say that I’ve gotten where I am now because of my ability to lock out the outside world and focus on my work, or despite that approach?

Realistically, it’s probably somewhere in the middle. But the point isn’t to scrutinize over this one habit. It’s to point out that we rarely know which of our traits work to our advantage and which don’t.

Am I successful because I’m extremely competitive, or is that keeping me from reaching my true potential? Is it good that I have strong control over my emotional responses, or does that keep me back?

Maybe I’d be much further along by now if I was more social in college. Maybe I’d be back at square one.

There’s no way to know for sure, so we guess and try to pave our path forward based on our best judgment.

-Brandon