The Contemplative Self — Decoding success
Like happiness, success is what each one of us yearns for. But what constitutes success? It means different things to different people. One word and many, many ways of looking at it.
Perspectives on success
The Oxford dictionary defines success as ‘the accomplishment of an aim or purpose’. For many, success is equated with money and what money can buy — how much do you make in a month and what’s your net worth? Do you drive a high-end luxury car and live in a leafy upmarket suburb? Or have a sprawling beach-front mansion?
For some, it is the ambition and the power angle; success is occupying the corner office or being high up in officialdom.
Then there is the fame viewpoint, how famous and well-known are you? Success from this vantage point is having a huge social media presence and rubbing shoulders with the movers and shakers?
Others have a different parameter, the happiness barometer and the quality of life they lead. For them it is not money nor fame or even the celebrity status. It is the passion for life and being happy in who they are and in what they do. They are fully in tune with what Nobel laureate Albert Schweitzer said: “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success…”
Closely linked are the dimensions of emotional and spiritual well-being. In the words of spiritual master Deepak Chopra, “Success also includes good health, energy and enthusiasm for life, fulfilling relationships, creative freedom, emotional and psychological stability, a sense of well-being, and peace of mind.”
For some, success is all about having a purpose and meaning in your life. It is about making a positive difference to people’s lives. As Viktor E. Frankl said: “Success, like happiness, is the unexpected side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson viewpoint on success is well-rounded: “To laugh often and much; to win the respect of the 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 beauty in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that one life has breathed easier because you lived here. This is to have succeeded.” So true.
Success is an inside job
Like happiness, success is an inside job. No amount of money, fame, position or power will make you feel successful. It is what your own inner voice says. It is about your perspective on success, and if it is aligned with your actions. As Maya Angelou says: “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” In other words, living your own truth.
Don’t chase success
Again, like happiness, it is said that success comes when you are not chasing it. It couldn’t have been said better than in the wise words of Viktor E. Frankl: “Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen… I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run — in the long-run, I say! — success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it.”
It is also true that success happens at its own pace. It can’t be rushed. Equally, it is the effort that matters. In the words of Zig Ziglar: “Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be. If we do our best, we are a success.”
What is your worldview on success?
I would very much like to hear from you on your thoughts about success. There are no wrongs or rights or any value-judgments, only perspectives. And each to his own. One needs to be comfortable with one’s viewpoint and at peace with oneself. After all, as Ben Sweetland said, “Success is a journey, not a destination.”
Happy ‘successploration’.
