A picture of Ryan EllisSuccess has an equation and that looks different for every one of us depending upon what we do. In its simplest form it probably looks something like this…

Success = Skills and Abilities + Work Ethic + Work Environment

Skills and abilities are obviously the talent, whether raw or developed, that you bring to the table or that you have learned over time. This alone, as most of us know is not enough for success.

You have to bring the effort and apply those skills while working hard. It then goes to show that a positive work ethic should bring more success and conversely a negative work ethic will decrease your returns.

Work environment is also a monumental ingredient for achievement. Many talented people crumble when put in a negative work environment and all the talent or work ethic in the world won’t save them. Similarly a positive work environment can add to your gains when put in conditions to thrive.

So where do I come in?

As someone who has spent the better part of two decades as a scientist, I have spent a lot of time trying to identify the common ingredients to achievement while at the same time finding the root causes of failure.

The interesting thing about this equation is that many people understand the three terms discussed and spend a great deal of time to improve all three. What they often fail to understand however is that there is a constant that applies to all three terms.

This constant can be the difference between 1, 10 or 100X on your return, or more too often the main reason that despite talent, skills, work ethic, and even a good work environment that your success remains limited or can even work against you.

This is the Human Constant. It’s real, and it’s everywhere.

Applying this constant to the formula we now have…

Success = Human Constant (Skills and Abilities + Work Ethic + Work Environment)

The thing is, when you apply this human constant in a positive way, you have a force multiplier that  virtually guarantees success. Get this wrong, and your returns can approach zero or even turn negative, even if all the other terms are positive.

The human constant applies to how we interact with ourselves, how we develop relationships with others, work as part of or lead teams, and on the highest level, how we promote our ideas and influence others.

The really powerful thing is that the Human Constant is transcendent. It doesn’t just apply to work, but all areas of your life where human beings exist. Master these concepts and there is nowhere to go but up.

I hope you will join our growing community and unlock your full potential as we dive into all of these topics and more as we explore the Human Constant.