The Third Piece of Success

Yesterday I wrote about Penn Jillette’s definition of success as “show up on time and do what you say you’re going to do.”

Underneath Penn’s statement is a fact that’s important to recognize: if you can’t meet those two halves of success, there are plenty more who can. That’s true regardless of your field, from competitive logrolling to solo vocal jazz to governing. That should be your primary motivation.

But the fact that there are many others who can meet Penn’s definition reveals a third vital piece of success. Be kind.

Given the choice of multiple people who can both show up on time and deliver as promised, how are we to choose? The final criterion will overwhelmingly be kindness, goodness, friendliness. As my mentor used to say, it’s about the hang–be the kind of musician that others want to hang with off the bandstand.