Your Predisposition for Success

Dear loving people,

Wikipedia states that “a genetic predisposition is a genetic characteristic which influences the possible phenotypic development of an individual organism within a species or population under the influence of environmental conditions.”

 So the question is: Are some people born a success? New research is beginning to show that much of our predisposition towards determination, sociability and self-control and sense of purpose is in our genes.

I asked a friend who is an excellent sculptor how he became a master of the art. He smiled and told me: “from the time I was an infant, my father surrounded me with sculptures, and not just sculptures, but sculpting at a very high level so I grew up just like him.” I understood it to mean the evidence of what psychologists call the passive gene-environment correlation. That’s supposed to be when his father passed on his genetic predispositions to his son, but he also raised his son in an environment in which it’s more conducive to develop and express those genetic predispositions” in this case, the sculptures.

Does it mean therefore that our DNA plays a bigger role in influencing these traits than our upbringing and the company we keep? Edinburgh University researchers think that “taken together, these facets of personality can make the difference between success and failure…” they equally think that “our genes also largely determine how determined and persistent we are. This is important in terms of success, as someone who refuses to give up is more likely to achieve their dreams than someone who throws in the towel at the first hiccough.”

In order to channel such genetic predisposition for desirable outcomes, Andy Nulman advices “Do something. Do anything. You don’t need to know exactly what you want now. You will figure things out as you go along. It’s important to do something.” In doing something and anything, you will come across lots of people who are already accomplished such as executives, entrepreneurs and news makers. They are varied in age, cultural background, education, interests, personality types, religions, beliefs, industries, and in many other ways but despite all the differences, you should realize they all have one thing in common…

They all have a strong disposition to define and start the next step. They did that whether they had a plan or not. They have this fanatical obsession with moving on the next step. Trust me, it’s a great habit to emulate because, it opens doors to new opportunities whether you are ready for them or not. Beginning and showing early results exposes an opportunity that wasn’t there before. You might get feedback that gives you an edge. It might put you on the radar of someone interesting. For example, when I started Living Lectures four years ago, I started getting interest from people to work on projects that I never knew about. My blog got me on their radar, exposed what I know, and helped create these opportunities.

These new findings, highlight a much more powerful influence from genetics than the previously acclaimed, role of family and the environment around the home that often dominated people's ideas about what affected psychological well-being and the compulsion to succeed.