I think there are varying degrees of success. Fundamentally, in its most elemental form, I see success as the ability to live one's life with adequate food and shelter. This definition of success takes it to the lowest level, which is basically survival.
Survival is great, if you're a troglodyte, but it's rarely enough in modern times. I think we've all got a desire to go far beyond basic survival. Most people in society today have the luxury of allowing themselves to think and live beyond survival.
As a brief diversion, let's take a good look at today's image. What do you see? Do you see survival? Do you see success? When I first walked past this store I saw failure, but then I started to think in greater detail about possible scenarios that could have happened. On the surface it looks as though this clothing store went out of business, and in all likelihood it did. But.....what if this store's goal was to sell clothes? Looking at the naked mannequins, you might say that the store owner's sale was so successful that he sold the clothes off the mannequins backs. He or she, the owner, might have been so successful that they themselves walked out of the store naked. Perhaps the store was so successful that they needed to move to larger premises. Maybe the owner had a long and prosperous career in sales and was now happily retiring.
My point is that success is hard to judge on the surface.
Recently a young would-be singer asked Wendy a very interesting question during an audition to gain entry to the university's undergraduate voice program. He asked what the prospects of a job in the field would be for him, i.e. will I be able to make my living as a singer? Fantastic question, but not easy to answer. It would have been an easier answer if the young student had asked 'will I be a better singer at the end of my degree'? Taking a step backwards for a moment, let's look at a university education for a moment. Do you get a university education so that you can survive or so that you can prosper? Surviving is about food and shelter, prospering is another matter altogether. Is education only about finding work?
Addressing the first question, I think it's fair to say, in most cases, you get a university education so that you can prosper, but it's not that simple. If it was simply about prospering, we'd all be studying to become bankers, lawyers, dentists, medical specialists, senior managers, judges, or we'd study whatever George Teed's sons studied. We tend to study something of interest to us. University, for most of us, is about positioning one's self to land higher on the ladder, but not all ladders are the same size. Some people live their lives as though the ladder was a footstool. Others choose ladders with ends that are unattainable, or at least unlikely. For these people, it will never be enough. Most of us fit somewhere in between.
Is education only about finding work? No. We educate ourselves every day, even me! Even retirees!! It can't always be about work, but when you're young and establishing yourself, it often is. There is a piece of advice out there that I hear time and time again, it goes something like this: "choose a job that you love and you will never have to work a day in your life." Perhaps a bit idealistic but there's some truth to it. Confucius apparently said this, but someone called Harvey MacKay likes to put his name after the quotation marks. Harvey is a businessman, columnist, and in all probability a plagiarizer. Based on his name alone, I think Harvey is probably living in a van down by the river (in McAdam) and writing for the St.Croix Courier. Just a guess.
My father spent his working life killing budworm or, better yet, trying to kill them more efficiently. On the surface, a life of analyzing the efficacy of pesticide spray, on a forest grub that doesn't taste particularly good on toast, sounds rather perplexing. Ah...perplexing, that's the key word. As a scientist, he unlocked riddles and problem-solved. I think that he was a problem solver more than he was someone who woke up in his university dorm with a dream to kill insects and save the spruce and fir forests so 'Mr.Irving' could become a billionaire and one day have his descendants clear cut whatever was left. Whew, that was a mouthful.
My father was a problem solver. My brother, a doctor, is a problem solver. My son is set to become a problem solver. My wife is a problem solver. Problem solvers are valuable members of society. My brother-in-law, who sells high end clothing, is also a problem solver. He provides his clients with a solution to their needs, and he's very successful because he's doing what he loves. The problems you solve, like the ladders you climb, are very subjective.
So.....what's your problem?
Funny question because your 'problem' will ultimately be your salvation. Find a problem that you care about, and work to resolve it. Ideally, and in reality, you will likely be compensated for it in more ways than one.
Practice what you preach, Ian.
An excellent point, alter ego. I'm writing this blog but simultaneously pondering my own place in the world. I don't feel like a problem solver, except perhaps in the most selfish of senses. In Toronto, I hardly need to worry about and food and shelter as Wendy more than adequately provides those necessities. I'm left with time on my hands, and my only real problem is how to entertain myself. It's an odd existence.
Do I feel successful? Mostly yes, but not entirely.
I have the luxury of doing whatever I want with only two restrictions: place and finance. Finance, surprisingly, is not much of a consideration because even if I was a millionaire (aka son of George Teed) I would still struggle with place. Place being Toronto, or any city for that matter.
I don't think success, or anything in life, is ever 100%. Everything in life is a compromise. I'd say that I'm running at about 82% in terms of success at the moment even though I feel like I live in the top 1% of humans globally. Strange math. Enough about me.....
How do you define success?
Here's what some others had to say:
"Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose."
Quote attributed to Harvey MacKay and/or Bill Gates
A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.
Quote attributed to Harvey MacKay and/or David Brinkley
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Quote attributed to Harvey MacKay and/or Winston Churchill (who, strangely, resembles Me Mootha)
No comments:
Post a Comment