10 Rules of Success According to Adele
Adele is one of music history’s most popular and best-selling artists. Very few of us will have her pipes and achieve her level of success. But we can learn from her approach to her music and business. Yes, Adele has a business approach, and if you watch some of her interviews you will see that she had failures as well as successes. Real life success stories are the ones everyone can relate to. Here are her 10 Rules of Success.
1. Be in control.
OK, Adele admits she is a control freak of sorts but that is more a matter of her personality than something someone needs to learn – or wants to learn. Being in control means you have to have as much control as possible of your decisions and choices. Most people have control of about 20% of their lives (sleeping, working, and commuting take up about 16 of your 24 hours, or 66%) so keep things in perspective.
2. Be patient.
This applies both to success and a specific job. In Adele’s case, it was recording another song or album. People wanted her to rush to record another song if the latest single wasn’t selling as expected. But she recognizes quality takes time. You can succumb to pressure from both the inside and the outside, so it is important to recognize when you are going at the right speed.
3. Be passionate.
Not only does passion produce quality, it keeps you motivated in both good times and bad times. Many people wake up in the morning and don’t feel like working, whether it is their favorite project or their workaday job. You can’t run on adrenaline 24/7, so it is important for you to channel your passion into the right outlets, at the right time.
4. Be forgetful.
There are people, places, and things that can hold us back in life, and definitely can get in the way of our success. Many people say the expletive f*** you, which is an angry response, when they should be saying “forget you.” You can use that angry energy for something more constructive and choose to forget about things that will hold you back. Let go. Tomorrow is coming sooner than you think.
5. Be true to yourself.
Adele puts it another way: don’t let people change you. If you are going to change, do it because you decide to, not because others expect you to change. You give up a part of who you are every time you give in, and even though it may be just a very small piece, over time the pieces add up. Be open to advice to people who you know and trust, but be sure you are making the decisions about any permanent changes.
6. Trust your instincts.
Developing trust in your instincts is a process that you will get better with the longer you pursue success. While it is important to forget the things that hold us back, you should also ask yourself why you didn’t listen to your instincts at that moment. Maybe you ignored them, or you were listening to another voice. Learning when your instincts are guiding you will soon come as natural as walking.
7. Find your place to make an impact.
This is something that may be out of your control given the influence of social media and the Internet in general. But while you cannot choose how, you can position yourself and continue to generate quality within your product or service. And if you are measuring success purely as a matter of personal growth, you will make an impact in ways you cannot begin to imagine.
8. Maintain your integrity.
The opposite of integrity is giving in and becoming corrupted. Losing your integrity often happens invisibly, when you are caught up in achieving a degree of success or when you are told that you have arrived – when you haven’t. Look at integrity as something like 24 carat gold, which if mixed with other metals changes its appearance, and certainly loses its purity.
9. Collaborate.
Collaboration comes in many forms, from listening to a trusted friend’s ideas to working with people to produce the best finished product possible. You will not lose your place in the mix by collaboration. In fact, the people you collaborate with will make you shine even brighter – if you choose the right people to be around you. You will know who they are when they are committed to making you successful.
10. Always prepare to be at your best.
Adele’s 10th Rule of Success is that you should perform amazingly. What does this mean to someone who isn’t on stage? The best way to apply this rule is to always keep in mind that there are planned and unplanned appearances. You may have a planned appearance where you should spend the time getting ready to look and “perform” your best. It could be on a date (who doesn’t want a successful date?), a sales presentation, a presentation in front of classmates, or even just getting together at a social event. If you are following a path of success you will treat every situation as an opportunity to shine brilliantly.
