One of those questions that will always be of interest
to people irrespective of their generation is what exactly success is. Then quickly comes to mind the question of if
success is exactly anything. I say
this because success to one person may actually be utter failure to another. As
it is said, “One man’s food can be another’s poison.”
Earl Nightingale once said, “Success is the
progressive realization of a worthy ideal.” I like that – progressive realization – which means it isn’t just a destination but a journey. As for definitions of
success, Earl’s ranks at the top of my list. In as much as a clear-cut
definition may not universally do it for us all, it is possible to earmark what
success is NOT. In doing this we will
knock off some very popular perceptions and, in all chances, begin to earmark
what success really means. So let’s begin.
Success is not money. Money has become a very popular gauge that measures how
successful people are. Society has pushed us to points where we erroneously feel successful when our bank accounts
are swelled and in effect feel unsuccessful
at times they are otherwise. Rather than have this perception, know that it is
possible to be successful or a failure with or without a swelled bank balance.
Success is not
a destination. I have alluded
to this earlier. We customarily perceive success as a point that we must attain
before we think we have succeeded. Although attaining a set goal is certainly a
part of the success formula, it isn’t
the whole. When you keep a fixed
paradigm of success as a destination and nothing else you make the journey
towards that destination a difficult chore. This greatly takes from the joy of
attainment.
Success is not
a part of your life.
It is common to perceive success as a part of a human being. “He is a successful
counselor but failed in his health,” or “She is a great mother but a terrible
wife,” we often say. We speak this way because we think a human being is compartmentalized
like a department store. On the contrary a human is ONE and hence success must
also be the whole ONE life and not a part of it.
These are not all that success isn’t but having
highlighted these three, I would proceed in the next a few other articles to
state what success exactly (maybe)
is.
