How Harvard’s Dark Horse Project is Shattering Old Beliefs about Success

Why excellence and and goal setting may not be your path to greatness

Deep inside Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, is the Laboratory for the Science of Individuality. Only a place like Harvard could dedicate resources to such a deep-dive. For a topic that sounds so esoteric on the surface, it effects us all, profoundly. And the Dark Horse Project is turning our old ideas of the pursuit for success, on their head.

Who doesn’t want to do work they love?

Who wouldn’t want to grow?

Who’s got a current situation they’d like to escape and transform into something better?

Most, if not all of us.

Success has different meaning to everyone.

Yet, success is a slippery sponge of a thing. For some, success mean the relentless pursuit of more. For others, success means doing better tomorrow than we did today. Whether it’s money, fame, growth, transformation, fulfillment, passion, or happiness — you ask a hundred people what they think about success, you’ll get 99 different answers.

Enter the Dark Horse Project.

This deep-dive study looks at the pursuit of success in a new light. Instead of the current model, where we look for a blueprint, based on the success of others — the Dark Horse Project looks inward.

The lab studies a diverse group of successful people. These folks are successful by their own measure, not always money. The group contains a dog trainer, a conductor, a chess master, a piano tuner, a life coach, a tailor, an Apple exec, a freaking sled dog musher, even an embalmer and a hot air balloon pilot!

The incomes range from low to a lot.

Where the project differs is their study of the pursuit of fulfillment, instead of the pursuit of excellence.

Todd Rose and Ogi Ogas, the experts behind the project, take a one-eighty approach to the current advice that we shouldn’t just follow our passion. This was exciting proof for me, because I’ve long-taught the importance of uncovering your calling, without worrying about money as a goal.

Rose and Ogas toss all that old thinking out the car window.

Their work shows — in these dark horses — the pursuit of fulfillment leads to success, but the path is unique for everyone. The pursuit of fulfillment is no guarantee that we’ll become successful, but the relentless act of searching for fulfillment will eventually lead to our version of success.

I get it. I was confused too.

When they started the project they weren’t looking at fulfillment. But fulfillment found them. And although they were reluctant to study it, Rose and Ogas did exactly that. The results are astounding.

They found that people found happiness through the relentless pursuit of fulfillment. The act of seeking fulfillment brought them success and happiness, instead of fulfillment as a consequence of obtaining mastery in a chosen field.

Their work looked at people who are masters of their craft, but totally unhappy at work, because they’re unfulfilled. The dark horses are individual. They each found pride and happiness in different aspects of their work. There is no formula. Just a basic compass heading.

This group of people shows us the importance of individuality.

Fulfillment isn’t passion. We might be passionate about basketball, but if we don’t have the skills or willingness to attain mastery, we’ll never be fulfilled as a basketball player.

This model also shows among the diverse background of the dark horses.

These people didn’t all find their callings on the first try. There were multiple attempts. Dabbling and re-calibrating. But once the work became fulfilling and each person “…found the best fit for their authentic selves,” the success came as a byproduct of the mastery that resulted in this daily pursuit. Not the other way around.

Is there a warning here?

I believe the Dark Horse Project (and their accompanying book: Dark Horse: Achieving Success Through the Pursuit of Fulfillment) also comes with a warning. That we place so much emphasis on comparing ourselves to others and their success. We place blame on ourselves when we don’t achieve the level of the people we admire.

We obsess over social posts.

We compare and contrast our friends and loved ones.

We look for short-cuts, hacks, blueprints, and maps.

We’ve got this endless self-chatter when we fail. We think we’re not good enough. That there’s something wrong with us. Maybe we’re not creative enough, smart enough, good-looking enough, or rich enough. All that is bullshit.

The warning is: The answer isn’t out there [points to the world], it’s in here [points to chest].

When we pursue our success based on the work of others, it’s equivalent to setting a train on a direct track to Long Beach, California, yet assuming we’ll get to Boise, Idaho through sheer willpower and dreams.

You can’t dream your way to success if your train is set on the wrong track.

Success is personal

Yes, we’ve got to make a living. Yes, if our work doesn’t eventually earn money, our pursuit may be off-track. But money isn’t the goal. Money is a byproduct.

You can’t eat money.

You can be a money when you grow up.

You can’t answer, “I make money,” when someone asks what you do for a living.

Money won’t watch your kids grow up.

Money won’t give you a hug.

Money alone won’t make us feel purpose.

Money is important as hell, but it’s a tool — an end-result of your calling. Not the calling itself. Money is a scorecard for a job well-done. But we can’t put money at the front of the line. This short-circuit makes for stupid decisions. This is why people at the top of the top, who only pursued the money and fame, but not fulfillment, are now asking, “is this all there is?”

There’s room for everyone.

It’s time to pursue fulfillment and become a dark horse too.

We’re waiting for you.

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August Birch (AKA the Book Mechanic) is both a fiction and non-fiction author from Michigan, USA. A self-proclaimed guardian of writers and creators, August teaches indie authors how to write books that sell and how to sell more of those books once they’re written. When he’s not writing or thinking about writing August carries a pocket knife and shaves his head with a safety razor.

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