Will Smith's Secrets of Success

I've always enjoyed Will Smith's movies - his characters are always worth the price of admission.
The December Reader's Digest has an interview with Will Smith that gave me some insights into his phenomenal success.

It's simple. Just blend a positive-thinking-to-the-max Dale Carnegie-type with a maniacal work ethic. Smith's take on himself: "I consider myself to be of basically average talent, right? What I have that other people do not have is a sick, obsessive, raw animal drive."

His philosophy is: "I can do it." Anything. Here's an example, in this exchange from the interview:

RD: So, you don't see any reason to go back to a formal education yourself?
Smith: I know how to learn anything I want to learn. I absolutely know that I could learn how to fly the space shuttle because someone else knows how to fly it, and they put it in a book. Give me the book, and I do not need somebody to stand up in front of the class.

RD: They put physics in a book, but I know I could never be a physicist.
Smith: The first step is you have to say that you can.

I'd have to agree. Some of the most important skills I've learned and used in my career have been self-taught. I taught myself to type one summer in high school. I taught myself programming from a reference manual during my first college job. Most of my Web development skills have been from books and references versus formal training.

Given the right mix of books, motivation, determination and discipline - you can learn anything.

Of course, becoming another Will Smith is a different story...

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