What does it mean to be successful? Successful as the dictionary describes it as “having achieved wealth or eminence,” but does that mean that ordinary people that aren’t mega millionaires aren’t successful? That question is up for debate but the standard and surefire way to being successful is to always be working. Thomas Jefferson once said “Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing”. Well then where are all our expensive yachts? Oh, wait...most people who finished their education can’t afford one. But those people all worked towards satisfying the education system, we have our certification that we know how to do calculus, engineering, and simple long division… where are our fortunes?
Whatever you have been told is a lie. Other than knowing how to file paperwork and write an essay whatever knowledge that is taken in should be on a person’s own and meaningful. Everyone wants to be successful, I don’t care whether writers lament on their feelings, because it is a hindrance not only to themselves but a bother to people reading it, because remember their wasting time reading it. I don’t care whether a person wants to know who I am because what good does that make…nothing, nothing at all, in which if I answer that question then we’re both wasting time. Start working, I say, because it’s going to pay off in the end and never forget that school doesn’t teach everything.
What if a person just can’t seem to invent/copyright a major good or service? Well then that person better be a good people pleaser because they’re going to have develop social skills. Shocker. Reduced on having to cope with people not to mention their personality to begin a job or pursue to improve their occupation status. It shouldn’t have to be that way; honest work can get you a lot of things. It should be solitary work so that we can feel in ourselves that we do deserve success in the end. Not so much as to be anti-social but that if ever a person gets to a low point in their lives they can say to themselves that they have worked all their lives for success and won’t quit now. It never mattered what the pessimists say because they most likely are too busy glooming over life than trying to make it better. It is true that as long as a person is doing then it’s wonderful what’s accomplished.
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ReplyDeleteWhile I admire your opinion on such a topic I must say for someone who says "It never mattered what the pessimists say” your choice of diction reveals a perhaps pessimist tone to your piece. I agree that schooling can't teach you everything but it does supply you with a basic understanding. Besides, as you already know success and education are ultimately meaningless if you look at it from the point of view of an existentialist. Just because we graduate from a higher education, does not imply that we will with a diploma and a yacht hand in hand. We must take what we've learned and make something of it. Like you said "it should be on a person’s own and meaningful". Also funny you should refer to Jefferson, considering he welcomed the idea of social skills because without them he would not have "succeeded" in becoming our 3rd president, as well as the man who drafted the declaration of independence by being a people pleasing social guy opposed to a "solitary worker" but other than that, "great post!"
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. A high school diploma does not guarantee success, which is sad that some people don't understand. All people have their different views on success, whether it be just sliding by in life or by actually making something out of themselves, which most won't do because some don't know how to apply or continue the knowledge that they were given. But other than that good essay :D
ReplyDeleteI think the yardstick for success is different for different people. Some may say that they are successful because they have their own home with a backyard pool, a car in the driveway, and two kids with a swing set, and of course a loving spouse. Others believe they must have their own business and attain great wealth. But success is has many different meanings. It’s colored by the way a person is raised, their personality, and even the person they share their life with.
ReplyDeleteFor people of our day and age, the definition of success is different to everyone based upon how the person thinks, and how they were raised. It used to be that the successful would grow up to be rich and powerful. Sadly, today some people qualify success as having many girlfriends, or managing to stay, rent-free, in their parent’s house until they are forty. With varying definitions, and with true success harder and harder to obtain, alternative, easier to achieve versions of success are being formulated. One could complete high school, graduate college and even with all their degrees and PhD’s be left with only a minimum wage job and thousands of dollars of student loans to pay off. Yet you are right. Without work we can accomplish nothing. However in our mind we must never forget what we are working for; and in no way loose sight of our goals, however remote they may be.
ReplyDeleteAs the previous post have said, success is based on meanings. What one family have taught their generation, will differ from another. What one might understand will differ from another. But it all boils down to getting closer to the ideal "American Dream". Most people will describe successful as something to do with that dream. May it be money, or kids, or a house, or a car, or even being an optimist. Either way we are named Gatsby, searching for that dream. "Because, trust me - I'm a Doctor."
ReplyDeleteit's true that success tends to be measured by how much money a person has, or how many awards and recognitions they have received for their successes, but that's not how people should measure success. success is measured by what the person wanted to accomplish and it's measured by the feelings they get after having accomplished such things. a person who has 3 houses, who has done several movies and received many recognitions for their achievements can be considered successful, but then, shouldn't a woman (or man) living in poverty be considered successful for having raised a good child and finding a way to send that child to college and graduating from college? i would say that is more of a success than having your name in flashy lights or having your every move watched simply because you happen to have money or looks.
ReplyDeleteMany people have different perceptions of what success truly is. What success might be to someone will be different to another. Now, I agree that people that aren't the mega millionaires can be successful. They are successful in different ways such as raising a child, graduating college, or just working as hard as they can. And although school does not teach you everything it can give you more tools to succeed and some people decide to further their education for themselves. Not to please the education system. Maybe finishing school is what success means to the.
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