Success Isn’t Guaranteed, But It Is Possible

There’s a joy that comes with pursuing a goal. The thrill of a sale, losing weight, or having an investment pay off.

All along you do the work, put in the reps, and most of the time — nothing happens. You keep pushing through with no signal or reward. No confirmation that you’re even on the right track.

Then it happens: the ah-ha moment lands. Your old clothes start to fit again. You finally land a sale. You make it through.

The feeling strikes like lightning.
Success isn’t guaranteed, but it is possible.

I’ve spent hours (sometimes days) trying to beat the odds.

Not in the gym. Not at work.

In Pokémon.

The Illusion of Progress

Whatever the mission, the early days feel exciting. You make the commitment, begin the work, but the result doesn’t come.

This spirals into long dry streaks doing the same thing again and again. You get bored. Doze off. Or get distracted.

Then you begin to really exercise your mind.

“I can do this”
“Just 1 more”

This leads to a breaking point where people give up. But not you. You’re not like them. You’re disciplined and hard-working. You finish what you start.

“What if I say I’m not like the others” ♫

Then.. after what feels like an eternity.. the result comes.

You did it.

Can Lightning Strike Twice?

Many call it quits after their first pain-staking crawl through self doubt and insanity.

Maybe the result was weight loss. Maybe a Shiny Pikachu.

Either way, there’s a secret that separates the casual folk from the elite (and this applies to business).

A casual person makes the climb towards their goals. They trek up the mountain, exhaust themselves, and reach the top. Meanwhile the elite climb in bursts, gathering and collecting information, making measured progress towards the goal. Both people get to the top, but the elite leverage the data collected to inform their next climb (not relying on sheer motivation, because motivation wanes).

This applies to sales in the business environment.

Having a high-energy sales team will only go so far. Having a team that understands their likelihood to close is 10% goes much better.

Here’s a little example to put this in context.

Selling Price of Product	$2,500
Target Revenue	$25,000
Close Rate (Chance Sale Happens)	10%
Sales Target (# of Products)	= $25,000 / $2,500 = 10 Products
Number of Sales Calls Needed	= 10 / 10% = 100 Calls

Now it’s just a game of getting through those 100 calls.

If you make the 100 calls and make no sales, you’re over odds. Keep plugging away and if you get to 250-300 calls.. that’s where I’d say to pause and readjust the approach.

So can lightning strike twice? Absolutely.

Playing the Odds

As a closing note to prove success is possible against all odds:

Pokémon	Odds of “Shiny”	Number of Attempts It Took Me	Approximate Time
Dratini	0.0122%	9,640	64 Hours
Abra	0.0122%	818	5 Hours
Raichu (Alolan)	0.0244%	4013	33 Hours
Slowpoke	0.0976%	626	8 Hours

Some results can happen fast, but consistency beats luck.

Have a system, understand your cadence, play the odds. Success comes to those that are consistent, not those who easily get bored.