What Drives Success?
Good New York Times article about what drives successful people.
It breaks it down to 3 traits -
- feeling of superiority
- insecurity
- Impulse control
It's an interesting article I agree with, though I always called 'insecurity' 'fear', like fear was driving me onward - fear of failure, fear of starting over, fear of humiliation, fear of losing. I've said many times on this blog that after each house I've sold I get the feeling that this could be the last one - I'm over that now, but it was a belated 'overness' and by the time I was over it I had literally sold 50 homes, meaning it was probably less fear and more insecurity. Of all the 3 traits, I think insecurity/fear is what inspires the energy to scale the wall of business starting more than the others.
Impulse control is a bit more complicated. I think many good entrepreneurs actually lack impulse control in many aspects but I guess in the most important moments - that being the moment to strike, to spend, to retreat, to run, to save, to attack - those impulses need to be managed and patient.
Feeling of superiority - well, yes, I guess I go in for that, though mostly it's just a feeling of confidence in your gut, instinct and ability to persevere. And of all traits, this one benefits and grows from each task accomplished, so it's the one that can most easily grow subtly out of control and lead to a lack of both insecurity and impulse control, leading to a person who's losing the traits that drove the success in first place. You see that a lot in 2nd try tech startups, where the entrepreneur who succeeded just doesn't the drive anymore that enabled the first venture to thrive.
It's hard to want to repeat the scratching and clawing that enabled the first venture to survive and perhaps thrive. In fact, it's something most folks would like to avoid repeating.
Cottage 45 Sold
In Barryville lives a new Cottage on a bunch of acres.
It's one of our favorite designs.
With a very fine floor plan.
That is changed and evolved each time we build it.
Rough hewn treads, hand-milled.
Money shot.
Money shot deux above.
Cast iron radiator.
Back door mudroom area.
5 panel door, painted white wainscotting, subway tile.
To the bedrooms....
Set 'em Up. Knock 'em down.
Wednesday Morning in Pictures
It's a simple fact - nice light makes nice pictures. And at 6 degrees, a hard crisp snow on the ground and a only a few clouds to filter the mid-morning sunlight, I had good light.
Some horse and mini-me horse over by Jason and Jaime's Awesome Barn 9.
Barn 9, in Olivebridge.
Big Time National Coverage House in Rhinebeck.
Mini Barn in Barryville exterior.
Big interior for little house.
Cottage 45, glorious in the slanted morning light. (not how all the roofs are completely covered in snow - that's cause the spray foam insulation is allowing zero heat to escape, saving our clients thousands of dollars a year.)
Big Observer Article on Catskill Project
So I'm reading a paper - I read lots of papers, blogs, mags, books, etc… and I come across yet another fun article on home design and building, this time a project in the Catskill using a nuanced play out of our playbook. Same old thing we do - idyllic, gentlemanly homes that work.
Now, it's safe to assume that the $600k+ marketing we have dropped on NYC metro area in the past 8 years have inspired a lot of people to buy our homes, but it also really gets the blood pumping in some entrepreneurs. Not quite copy cats, but inspired by what we do, and definitely aimed at the same market, with a time tested narrative of 'my grandfather was a logger', 'unscripted planning', 'tobacco in his teeth as he revs the chainsaw'. It's so on message it's embarrassing.
So I'm reading this article and the writer is fawning over this guy like they woke up in the same bed or something, and eventually goes on to say this -
"Earnest and soft-spoken, he appeared to be a man with discerning aesthetic judgment and the good sense not to broadcast it too loudly."
Check back in a year or two, and we will see if the low key approach to selling high-priced homes actually works. Like I said, it's remarkable how similar these articles are to the ones I was seeing in 2005/6, and looking back, those articles were about projects that failed -typically not in a dramatic crash and burn scenario - but more in a 'we have no sales and it's draining our bank account and ruining our relationships with our money guy'. The writers are even drawn to the same type of person - Brooklyn hipster designer with a great narrative and zero sales. Or actually not even a house built.
My thoughts- succinctly - price matters, and so does the reach of your voice.
