Success? What's that?
A Yale graduate once said "If by the time you are 35, you know what you want to do with the rest of your life, you can consider yourself an early starter". I can't agree more. Caught between a Paulo Coelho on one side who impresses me with the inspirational power of following one's dreams and the rigmarole of an MBA placement season on the other side where I don't quite fit in with the idea of a sea of people scurrying neck to neck to grab the same old fat-pay-packet, proven-to-make-you-rich beaten path jobs, I sometimes wonder what it is that I'd look for in myself or in someone else to label me/them 'successful'. Loads of money? Fame? Awesome educational degrees? Bagging the hottest seat of an unbeatably big company? "I personally know every single famous sperm that ever came to life on planet earth" kind of a strong social network? Revelling in the warmth of an immensely fulfilling relationship? A happy-as-a-lark family? ...
Or maybe, success is when I or you for that matter, just find an answer to that big question: What does success mean to you?
posted by chutki @ 4:45 PM
13 comments
13 Comments:
just loved the Question you are posing to yourself/others.
Success to me, is to find out a way to be "ever-happy". so, this would in turn translate in finding out - what i need to do for being "ever-happy".
This understanding may change with time.
hmm.. need to dwell more into this Q.
Profound thoughts. Really.
It would be restrictive to even look for a single definition of success; as diversity of people is ensured only because different people are running behind different success stories of their own. And one would agree that without diversity, the world would indeed be a very boring place to dwell in.
To a doctor, saving a life would mean success whereas to a terrorist, killing scores of people would mean success. Both would be successful in their own rights.
To answer the question as to what I'd look for in someone else to label them successful, one of the defining characteristics I would look for in them is the amount of respect he/she has for other humans, no matter how small (in so-called status) they may be, no matter who they may be, no matter how different they may be; coz this characteristic would determine how much he/she deserves to be a part of the human social system, on which we have progressed for milleniums together.
Gosh, this is as big as a post ;)
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Wow, weighty words! The 'follow your dreams' thing isn't as easy as Coelho and other authors make it sound, though, is it? If you define success as a 'happy-as-a-lark' family, as you called it(I've never seen a lark. Hmm, that's one more thing to do before I turn 25.), if you follow Emerson's "If you have made one other person glad that you have been, that truly is success" (or something to that effect) statement, you will most probably have to give up some of your most cherished dreams. If you go after your dreams, your family might get lost in the wake.
How come things aren't easy, huh? I demand an enquiry.
I enjoy reading any such profound thoughts emanating from capitalistic or its edifices such as B-schools.
Just goes to show that in the name of Capitalism a mixture of customized Bolshevism (& Socialist-Communism) is being practised all in the name of World cultural domination.
http://fingerofgod.blogspot.com
Hullo! Glad to have discovered this blog. And thanks for raising this important question - that everyone must eventually confront. Best, rama P.S.: I'm also "chutki"!
A very good and thoughtful post. A lot of people are confused and puzzled. Success is contentment, satisfaction, happiness. What can give you a good night's sleep is also success. It is wrong to equate high salary or high designations with success. A lot of frustrations, disappointments and even suicides now-a-days is because of the wrong idea of "success" that is perpetuated. We must do all our best to correct and propogate the right meaning of success.
In March 2005, I had a posting on my blog on the same topic. May be you could read it.
http://bpradeepnair.blogspot.com/2005/03/what-is-success.html
why shud u know wht u want to do wid ur life???
when i was 5, getting a chocolate was success...
when i was 15, gifting one to my dream gal was success...
when i am 25, gifting one to my daughter might be success...
why, oh why, shud one know what success is?
If today, I' happy wid money and no family life and tomm, I'm happy wid a 'lark family' and no money, wht's the prob??
GRrrr... read the book 'The Present'... :DD
I've been thinking about the same thing since I was 15.
Success to me is manyfold for the same person!
A person can be successful in his professional life but may be utterly miserable in his personal life!
Even in professional life, earning a high salary may be a sign of success but to some performing well on the job may be more important than the cheque they draw!
To some, it may be if the person is more qualified and has a social status!
So success has different parameters with the same person as well!
My one question to everyone in search of the meaning of 'true success'....
"Are you really worthy of participating in the pursuit?"
What does success mean to me? This is one question that continued to haunt me even in all these years that I haven't posted a single word here. And today, I found something beautiful that I entirely agree with:Ralph Waldo Emerson defined success with these words: "To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded."
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