How to succeed

If you want to succeed in anything you want to work with, is there only one thing you need.

And what is that only one thing?

It is patience.

That is the only thing you need. Sorry I lied, you need two things.

Patience and hard work.

Once I worked with the famous photographer Lennart Nilsson for about ten years.

He always said, you only need three things to succeed.

That is patience, patience, and patience.

He kept repeating that all the time, like a mantra.

That has now become my mantra.

Patience, patience, and patience.

Those who think there is a shortcut to success, will never last for a long time, they could peak for a short time but it will seldom last. They have not to build patience in their body and will rush away to the next project, and next, and next…..

Trying to find that shortcut again.

Sometimes they could find it, but mostly not and that builds frustration in their body.

Always keep in your mind that it will take time, which will make it easier for you to work on whatever project you have.

One or another day it will pay off. Or not.

Many of those projects we worked with, when I worked with Lennart, we could work on for months and months until we realized that it wouldn't become anything.

So we dropped it, sometimes for good, and sometimes we let it rest for a year or two. Suddenly, after a time when the brain had processed it, we could find out a new way to manage the project. If you work with something for a long while, you often get stuck in the same problem and how to solve it. You think the same way over and over again. That doesn't change the way of solving the problem, if you drop it a while, and do other stuff, your brain purifies and processes without your knowledge.

So patience is the main thing you need to be successful.

The second thing is hard work.

With Lennart Nilsson, we could sometimes work until two, three in the morning. Constantly. Lennart was nearly 80 years old with no end of energy. I was often more tired than him, and I was 35 years old at that time. This was around 1996-97.

We could work with something sometimes for up to a week, it was mostly productions for television, and nothing was filmed. Lennart wasn't pleased with something, and suddenly he said, we tear it down and start all over again.

So never give up. Start all over again. Try it in a new way, a new angle. Don't think the first you do is the best, everything could be better.

That was something he also said often "everything is possible, nothing is impossible". Be consistent.

Understand me right, you also have a life to live. Working until two, three in the morning isn't healthy. No one should do that if you want a life too.

But if you want something, you have to work for it. You have to put some effort into it.

I always have five to ten projects at the same time. So when I feel stuck in one project, I just let it rest for a while and dig into another of my projects.

I have a couple of businesses I recently started. My goal for them is to make them profitable in about five years. It would be nice if it goes faster but I have no dream of that. They take the time they need.

In the United States approximately 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first 10 years. Only 25% of new businesses make it to 15 years or more.

I don't think it is only because of bad businesses, it is more of giving up. Having high dreams and less effort. People give up in their minds, and that's understandable but unnecessary.

However dropping one business would not always be bad either, you have to believe in it yourself, and your idea to have the energy to put into it. If you don't, the effort you do isn't worth it.

But you have perhaps and probably learned a lot on your way that might be useful in another project.

And, please, don't believe in those who have made "easy" and "passive" money.

It doesn't exist.

Whatever you want to do, you have to put hard work into it and a lot of patience before you succeed.

I am very grateful for those years I had with Lennart, he taught me a lot, obviously a lot of photography, but mostly a lot of how hard it is to succeed and that you have to put a piece of yourself into whatever you are working with. I am far from his success and will never be able to reach that. But that is not my goal.

My goal is to do things I think are fun to do. I think that is the best for my life.

If it brings me something more, it would be even more fun. One thing is sure, I would not be who I am today without those years with Lennart.

Lastly, don't forget the three most important things you need.

Patience, patience, and patience.