What does an iceberg have to do with success?

We start on April 10, 1912…

It's the maiden voyage of the unsinkable luxury steamer Titanic. There are 2,200 people on board. Destination: New York. Four days later, on April 14, the Titanic's final hour strikes…

Around 11:40 PM, crew member Frederick Fleet shouts "ICEBERG AHEAD!" The 260-meter passenger ship tries to turn, but the iceberg is already too close. The hull is ripped open and floods within seconds. Just three hours later, the ship lies on the bottom of the Atlantic. Over 1,500 people lose their lives in this tragic disaster.

The danger of the iceberg was spotted so late because only a small part of it was visible above the waterline. The vast majority of the iceberg was hidden, beneath the surface.

What does the iceberg illusion have to do with your career?

The exact problem the captain faced on the water also exists when it comes to success.

To understand it, let's take a closer look at how an iceberg is built.

You can see that the visible part above the waterline makes up about 20% of the iceberg. In your career, that's the visible success. It's the fast cars, the expensive watches, the luxury vacations, and the beautiful house.

What we don't see is the invisible part below the surface. It's significantly larger than the part above water. That part is the road to success — the path this person had to walk to get to where they are.

What does the road to success look like?

The road to success is paved with setbacks. With hard work and passion. With long nights and self-doubt. While others were partying, the successful person held back. While others went on vacation, the successful person worked on their goals with discipline.

It doesn't matter if we're talking about successful businesswomen and businessmen, pro footballers, or famous actors and movie stars.

All of these people walked through the invisible part below the waterline.

All of these people poured a huge amount of hard work into their company, their sport, or their craft.

All of these people made plenty of mistakes and ran plenty of attempts that failed.

All the success these people have today is what we see above the waterline. If we ignore the part below the surface and try to skip past it, the ship will sink before we ever reach the destination. We have to start below the waterline!🎯