| Año 3 • No. 139 • mayo 10 de 2004 | Xalapa • Veracruz • México | Publicación
Semanal |
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Being Successful or Being a “Success”? |
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| I
once read that there is a difference between wanting to be successful
and wanting to be a success. The author explained that to be successful
meant setting a goal and achieving it. In other words you are successful
at something. Being a “success” in his estimation was something
else. A “success” meant acquiring the symbols that are attached
to being successful at a number of endeavors. The “success”
has a big home, fancy cars etc. Hence we have the expression “all
the trappings of success”. The distinction is an important one. To be happy in our lives it is incumbent upon us to set goals and work at achieving them. Our goals might include getting better grades, working in a specific career, achieving a feat of athleticism and so on. Setting goals and accomplishing them may gain us the adulation of society, though that is not the mission. The quest is self-actualization, nothing more. Spending our time working at being a “success”, on the other hand, is rooted in a narcissistic ethic all too common to western societies of the 21st century. When we become more concerned with the ornaments that come from a series of successful endeavors rather than the endeavors themselves, we choose the bath water over the baby. Self-actualization does not come from what other people think of us. Personal growth comes from what we want to accomplish in our own lives and our unremitting constancy in achieving what it is we set our minds to. Living our lives so that we may be well regarded by others is a Faustian pact that leaves our souls gasping for the air of honest personal commitment. What counts in the end is what we truly believe and do, not being admired for our toys and titles. The great scientists, writers and musicians of history were often scoffed at by their peers. Had they chosen the path of vainglory over the path of personal belief and goal setting, the world would today be the poorer for it. Striving to be successful at our endeavors, yes. Striving to be a “success”, no. |
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