“Early success is a terrible teacher. You're essentially being rewarded for a lack of preparation, so when you find yourself in a situation where you must prepare, you can't do it. You don't know how.” ―Chris Hadfield, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth
Everyone wants to achieve success in their lives from cradle to grave. However, few people achieve success in their lives. Some people never achieve success in their lifetimes and die as unsung heroes and heroines while some people reach peaks in several stages of life with valleys. Some people achieve success at an early age in life and fail consecutively thus becoming oblivion. Some people achieve success late. A few people achieve success consistently without looking back. They are known as people with Midas touch. Everyone aspires to achieve success in their lives.
When you fail in the early stage of your life, you will learn what did not work and realign your strategies to accomplish your goals. You will be able to identify your true calling, find your true friends, and become humble. You understand ground realities very well. You don’t take things and people for granted. You value people as people. Hence, early success is not advisable because it doesn’t teach valuable lessons in life. Inspiring leaders including Abraham Lincoln encountered several failures for many years and finally became the 16th President of America. He learned valuable life lessons and found out what would work to achieve success. Similarly, Einstein encountered several failures but learned valuable lessons and finally became a successful scientist. It is obvious from these leaders that early success is not ideal to achieve amazing success in the later part of life.
Success can come at any time and any stage of life. People must work hard with a focus on their passionate areas unmindful of outcomes. When you look at Tiger Woods he achieved success in the initial stage of his life and encountered several setbacks and failures and finally won the Masters golf tournament on April 14, 2019, and earned America’s highest civilian award—Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Emphasize Efforts, not Luck
"Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny." —C.S. Lewis
Nothing can replace your hard work and persistence. Emphasize your efforts, not luck. Luck may give you temporary fame but it is your consistent efforts that give you permanent fame. Don’t blame external forces and factors. Take responsibility and work hard to prove yourself. If achieving success were easy everybody would have achieved success and the term ‘success’ would have lost its relevance.
Don’t blame your destiny when you fail to accomplish your goals. Explore alternative paths to reach your goal. It is the weak individuals who blame their external forces and circumstances. It is strong individuals who take responsibility for their actions, overcome their challenges, and come out with flying colors.
Emphasize Service over Success
"I slept and I dreamed that life is all joy. I woke and I saw that life is all service. I served and saw that service is a joy." —Khalil Gibran
In history, inspiring leaders seldom became a success overnight. They worked hard for many years when there seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel. They saw the silver lining over the dark cloud and persisted. They never craved success. Instead, they craved to add value to others through their service. Service was the end product while success was the byproduct for them. Hence, emphasize service over success to leave your footprints.
Take-Home
"The highest reward for man’s toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it." —John Ruskin
People should strive for happiness rather than success because happiness lies within while success depends on various internal factors including hard work, discipline, and persistence, and external factors including luck. To conclude, work hard consistently unmindful of the outcome to achieve success and leave your mark for the next generation.
“Marine leaders are expected to eat last because the true price of leadership is the willingness to place the needs of others above your own.” ―Simon Sinek
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“Things You Don’t Know about Professor M. S. Rao” http://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.com/2015/10/things-you-dont-know-about-professor-m.html
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Note: I had a brain hemorrhage. I was in bed for five months. My right hand has been numb and paralyzed. I am recovering. Thanks for empathizing with me. With gratitude. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFJrSRLHPUk&ab_channel=ProfessorM.S.Rao
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Professor M.S. Rao, Ph.D.
Founder of MSR Leadership Consultants, India
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