Success

It's a Friday night and the library at my university closes in 45 minutes, but I would like to touch on the concept of "success" from a very linear, single perspective, subjective perspective.

Look at your idols, look at your heroes, look at the people you consider successful, and often you'll notice that they talk about what needs to be done to be successful like them. Most of them discuss success as if it is a linear path, a gradual movement upwards while some discuss success in the overused "rollercoaster" analogy of "ups" and "downs". They are happy to discuss it, because they have been recognized as having reached success, and this may very well might be the case. I'm not here to debate what the word (or idea) "success" denotes (although, it does sound like something I would, and probably will, do), but rather, to discuss the reality of a journey to success.

The reality is that all your heroes are human (not a revolutionary thought, and also an abundant thought), so they each had their trials, and although some pushed through with sheer will, hunger, and sometimes some help, there are others that floundered and had to find other avenues to success; this is a reality that many do not discuss (although, again, some do). The reality is often not demonstrated int he words that come from their mouths. Now that the journey to success is in "hindsight", it is easy to twist, manipulate, adapt, and exception stories to make them seem more grandiose of feats, or make it seem as if they are so brilliant they rarely found themselves stumped. Again, for some, this is a truth.

My point is, most of them fucked up a lot. Most of them aren't special from you, they simply found themselves in advantageous positions or they kept fucking up until they fit through a crack and found their "road" to the illustrious golden throne of success. A small percentage of those heroes and inspirations (so, mind you, an unbelievably small population of the average population) have been gifted with great ability that will forever stun us, mark us, touch us through human history as nigh "superhuman" in greatness; ambassadors of the human species. Even a majority of them had to work hard to reach their goals.

So, what does "work hard" mean?

Let me explain. Inb4 you're not successful, Nic, you just turned 24 > I know, these are thoughts of a human, not a reflection of self crowned greatness.

Working hard means having an established goal and stopping at little to slow down to reach that goal. News? Hardly. We all know this, and although 98% of people don't implement it, we almost all know it. That being said, does that mean you should tirelessly aim to push, push, push upwards? No. I believe success comes from a beautiful harmony between your current and your future self. You must know where you will go in your future self, have a plan, and stick to it within reason. At the same time, you shouldn't lose sight of things in front of you. Always keep that healthy unsettlement, restlessness in the back of your mind to  remind you that you are not where you will be, but look at the things in front of you and appreciate what you have done, others have done, to reach where you are now. So, is it a straight line of hard work to reach success? Hell no. A more apt understanding of success is a "pulse".

Happy now (enjoying the journey) > Push for greater happiness with accomplishment of short term goal > Happy now (enjoying the journey) > Push for greater happiness with accomplishment of short term goal >
Happy now (enjoying the journey), etc. etc. until = reach long term goal, and overall happiness should increase.

Is it a rollercoaster? Not exactly. I feel as if a lot of successful people measure the "good" and the "bad" within their journey as the "ups" and "downs" of a rollercoaster, but I see it as a flat line of constant happiness, then a self made surge to increase overall happiness, then taking a break, enjoying what you've done and returning back to that flat line of happiness. A lot like a pulse monitor in a hospital room hooked to a patient. Will you go through negatives? Absolutely, but if you have found the correct path/journey for your personal happiness, then any assault to that happiness is proportionally tiny in the landscape of your happiness (although, within the 24 hour, week long, month long moment that negative may seem to be sucking the life out of you). If you have truly found happiness, you will enjoy its ever present cover, meanwhile scanning for opportunities that will increase your overall happiness. You will make 'wrong' choices, you will have 'bad' things happen to you, but your happiness, in some people, can grow intrinsically which makes it even more potent, so no matter the extrinsic negatives, the self always knows what will make it truly happy, you just have to open yourself to yourself to understand yourself (sounds like a rap lyric).

I usually calculate my words better than this, so I may write on this again, but as I have 5 minutes remaining, I must cut this short. I realize this is probably confusing, and when I read back through it I will likely think, "WTF?", but eventually my mind will recollect those crazy thoughts and I'll understand these words well enough for me to continue to explain.

Oh, and yes, I did turn "success" into "happiness", because true happiness (and don't fucking lie to yourself; if you're not happy, be honest with yourself to make yourself feel better) will always trump success in its social, financial definition.