“Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.”
Many people view success in the visual and material world because this is what society has embraced as success. The tangible comparisons are inevitable among all of us. We tend to size up our own “success” with regard what others have or have not versus our own have or have nots.
We look at the person with a large home, luxury car, fine clothing and jewelry and most people would say that that person is “successful”. They have all of the outward appearances of success anyway. But how did they get that way?
Unless they inherited it or won the Powerball, (in which case they will blow it all anyway), those who are financially successful got there via progressive realization of a worthy ideal. It is their success in their progressive realization of a worthy ideal which then led them to a life of wealth and privilege not the other way around.
However, success does not always come with a large bank account. For some it may be running a marathon, climbing Mt. Everest or simply climbing a flight of stairs. People pursue lifestyles and for those who pursue something truly worthy, nothing gets in their way.
A fine example of this is raising a child. Most couples who have their first child are no more equipped for the task than they are to fly a 747. Despite the fact they lack training and experience; new parents will almost always rise to the task. For most responsible parents, the worthy goal of supporting and caring for another life is not considered a goal at all. It is considered mandatory.
“Mandatory” is quite a stiff word but “mandatory” is what happens when goals become musts and when goals become musts, the goal has been scored!
Regardless of where you are or what the cars and houses look like, successful people are all around. The schoolteacher who has invested decades into making a difference, the nurse who enjoys helping those in need, the homemaker who takes pride in their daily endeavors.
Successful people enjoy their chosen lifestyle.
Success does not mean a large bank account for everyone because anyone who truly enjoys their chosen lifestyle is successful. But, for those who desire a large bank account and the lifestyle that goes along with it, success will rarely beat down the door of a person who dislikes what they do.
Another fine example of this is once again, raising a child. Parents will regularly make mistakes and second guess themselves, yet all of those setbacks will not initially affect their ultimate goal of giving society a healthy, educated, responsible, ethical young adult.
The child may have other ideas though, which become more of a hindrance to the goal as they grow older. This is the point where the parents are tested repeatedly and some take on every challenge in order to see their children eventually prosper while others give up and lose interest.
Those who lose interest usually do so because they no longer enjoy pursuing their goal of raising the child like they once did. In many cases the child has become so unpleasant compared to the little bundle of joy they brought home from the hospital that the initial worthy ideal of raising the child is deemed so old that it is lost.
When we want something badly enough, we all have the ability to achieve it as long as the desired result is achievable. For example, I would love to play in the NBA or PGA tour but my lack of height, youth and talent make such a goal entirely unrealistic.
When people act as if it were impossible to fail, when failure is not an option, when we make consistent progress towards our desired results, success is all but inevitable. If the requirements of any task are compulsatory, we humans tend to find a way to make it happen as long your mind believes that it must happen.
So decide what is important to you, and progressively realize that ideal. Fortunately (or unfortunately) for the human spirit, most of our endeavors are far easier than that of raising children!