“Successful is, simply, show up on time [and] do what you say you’re going to do. That’s all success is–everything else in success is bulls**t.”
– Penn Jillette, in conversation with Brian Koppelman
It’s as simple as that: show up and deliver what you’ve promised. This is from one of the most successful magicians and performers (along with Teller) of modern history.
Underneath “do what you say you’re going to do” is your personal preparation. It might take you more time to be ready to deliver than the person next to you. You might have to work harder to finish that paper, sing the section in tune, learn your lines. Or you might have an easier time than your peers being proficient at improvisation, learning dance steps quickly, sight reading, memorizing dates.
Either way, it doesn’t matter; success isn’t work hard, it’s do what you say you’re going to do.
You will not always succeed: you might not show up on time, or you might underperform. In that case, don’t lose hope: simply look at where you fell short, and fix it going forward. Do I need to prepare harder? That might be frustrating if your peers don’t. Do I need to start earlier to be on time? For some that’s as difficult as their preparation.
When you fall, analyze it in terms of those two pieces, and then fix for the next thing you try.