Just like the popular illustration of half-filled and half
empty glass of water of the diverse views of opinion on the same issue, so is
human perspective of success. The world view of success is as numerous as the
number of humans that inhabit this earth itself. So diverse is our perspective
of success that the likes of Hitlers, Al Capones and Osama Bin Ladens of this
world are heroes and models for some. Though our own perspective of success
might not lead us to looking up to extreme characters like these, but it raises
the issue of examining what we call success.
This post is not intended to spell out what an ideal
perspective of success should be but to provoke us to take a second look at the
path and direction in which we are investing our talents, gifts, time and
resources. It will examine the common perspectives of success and leave us to
identify where we slot into and see if that journey really is leading us to
what our lives were created to fulfill.
One perspective of success that is most common is ‘possession
is success’ perspective. The people with this world view believed the more
possessions we have the more successful we are. They live their lives acquiring
money, properties and investments. They do not do this merely to meet their
needs but to have the sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. Ironically, it is
never enough.
The positive thing about this perspective is that it gives
some people the drive to create wealth. These people starts and build
businesses to produce the needs of the community and provide sources of income
for the people of the community. Starting, running and building a company is a risky
and tasking job, it therefore requires high motivation to venture into any business.
The high drive to make this businesses succeed; helps the people with this
perspective to creatively overcome the challenges.
Men like Carlos Slim Helu, Bill Gates, Amancio Ortega,
Warren Buffet, Larry Ellison (Forbes 2013) and millions of other men and women
are in this category. These people have contributed to the development of the
world in their various areas of specialties, meeting needs and helping people
to use their skills and talents in self-actualization.
However, a negative side to this perspective is that there
are people who believed this perspective and also believed the end justifies
the means. To them the means of acquiring possession is inconsequential as long
as they acquired it. These men are kingpins of organized crime and the various
corrupt tyrants of the third world countries. According to Al Jazeera website “organized
crime gangs dealing in fake goods, drugs, human trafficking and illicit
wildlife trades earn nearly $90billion annually in east Asia and the pacific”
siting a UN report. There are third world countries’ rulers who are richer than
their poor countries.
They are the sources of heart wrenching misery in the world.
The lives of men and women are being destroyed by drug addictions. Thousands of
orphans, widows and widowers are being produced daily due to the senseless
killings by organized crimes and wars instigated and financed by despots. Lives
are being impoverished by the spreading of illiteracy, ill health and
unemployment due to the corruption of government officials who misappropriates
government funds. The greed produced by this perspective creates monumental
failures.
The second most common perspective of success is the
perspective of achievement. To these people our achievements level determines
our success. These are the foot print in the sand of time people. They are
driven by the desire to achieve great feats and climb to great heights in their
fields. Possession is usually not their primary goal but some do acquire great
wealth in the process of accomplishing their goals. But many do not and are
still fulfilled and content with their achievements.
In this group, we have academicians, researchers, inventors,
writers, musicians, artists and sports people. People like Albert Einstein,
Thomas Edison, John Forbes Nash Jr, Jimmy Carter, Steven Covey, John C Maxwell,
Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and millions of others. They are the engineers of
the modern civilization. Their achievements have raised the standard of living,
thinking and behavior. They have raised the lid on the capacity of human
ability, productivity and relationship.
Unfortunately also in this group are people who are
responsible for catastrophic events and movements in the world. Guns, missiles
and atomic bombs are inventions made possible by the achievements of brilliant
minds. These have been used for much destruction in the world. Moral
degradation pervading our society today is an offshoot of defective but
applauded liberal philosophies, theories and works of arts. Racial theories
have lead men like Adolf Hitler to plunge the world into a senseless war with loss
of millions of lives. These and many more have brought disturbing and
self-destructive trends into our modern civilization.
Another perspective of success which is not common but has
been of great importance in the story of mankind is the “living and propagating
an ideal” perspective of success. The focus of this perspective is living by an
ideal of life and influencing others to live the same way. These ideals might
be religious, social, economic or political. These are not theoreticians. They
live these ideals and passionately canvass others to live it too. To these
people acquisition of wealth and achieving a feat in life is not their primary
goal.
Mahatma Gandhi lived a non-violent life and withstood the
force of oppression and violence with non-violent means to gain independence
for India. Martin Luther King Jr followed in this pattern to bring racial
segregation to an end in America. Nelson Mandela did the same against apartheid
in South Africa winning the love of both while and black. Mother Theresa lived
a life of love and spread this love to the unloved in India and in the world. Billy
Graham live a life of faith in Jesus Christ and spread this faith all over the
world. Kenneth Hagins lived a life of faith and fellowship with the Holy Spirit
and taught many how to do the same. These men and women and many others, by the
ideals they lived and canvassed changed the course of nations and lives for the
better.
However, in this group also are the likes of Osama Bin laden
who lived violently and build a structure of violence which had continued to
unleash violence and terror across the world. James Warren Jones aka Jim Jones
lived in error and lead many astray, cumulating in mass suicide of his followers
and their family at Jonestown, Guayana. These and many have done a lot in
creating sorrow and destruction of lives in the world.
“The more aware we are of our basic paradigms, maps or assumptions… the more we can take responsibility for those paradigms, examine them, [and] test them…” Stephen R. Covey.
As you can see these perspectives of success overlaps and
can come in infinite numbers of combination to produce different shades of
perspective. It is also clear that none of the perspective is misuse proof.
Each perspective has people who are producing negative results. It is also easy
for one that is succeeding under a perspective to be viewed a failure by one who
believed in a different perspective. It is therefore important that while we
assess the opinion of others concerning our success journey in order to make
use of those things that will help us fine tune our journey, we should be
conscious of the perspective from which they offer those opinions. This is to
ensure that we do not derail from our direction in life by using the
perspective of others to assess ourselves.
A closer look also shows that having a perspective of
success is not enough. There must be an ethical background which must be seriously
considered, understood and assimilated into our perspective of success. We can
be passionate about the path of success we are treading but we need to be aware
of the result been generated by this passion. If the fruits are bad, it does
not matter that the tree is in a beautiful garden. A poisonous tree remains
poisonous. We must examine the results coming out from our success journey and
ensure it is full of wellbeing and spreads wellbeing.
Now what is your perspective of success? What ethical
background is it based on? What are the effects of the results of your success?
When last did you check?
LIFE CHECK
1. Examine your heart. You should be sure your spirit is
regenerated and you are living according to your faith in Christ Jesus. Your
regenerated spirit will receive wellbeing-generating life from God that will
help you produce good results in your success journey. “Test yourselves and
find out if you really are true to your faith. If you pass the test, you will
discover that Christ is living in you. But if Christ isn’t living in you, you
have failed” 2Corinthians 13:5 CEV.
2. Examine the reigning principle in your mind. A transformed
mind produces good result and blesses people in his area of influence. “A good
man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an
evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things” Matthew 12: 35
KJV
3. Start the process of change. Once the examination reveals
you are not having a good effect on your environment turn to God and let Him change
you. You can’t do it yourself. You need to present yourself to Him and ask Him
to change you from within. When you are changed from within, it is easy to
change other things. “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be
wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” Acts 3:19 NIV.
4. Renew your mind. Our minds gathers information daily, most
have corrupting influence over us. To checkmate this, we must continually read,
study, meditate and confess the word of God. “Do not conform any longer to the
pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then
you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing
and perfect will.” Romans 12: 2 NIV.
