Tag: bold

People I think are successful.

When I think of successful, who comes to mind? I guess I would need to sort of define success before I could determine who is successful. Let me think of some things that I think of when I think of the word success first. Here are a few things that come to mind.

  • A successful person has to believe in themselves. To be successful, you need to believe that you can achieve the goal. This requires you to have or develop a level of self confidence in your own abilities.
  • A successful person is able to achieve the desired result. People aim for different objectives, but a successful person has to have the ability and will power to push though and achieve their goal.
  • A successful person is someone who has put in the work. Winning the lottery doesn’t make you a success. It might help spur you toward it, but to be successful, you have to accomplish something on your own.
  • A successful person is someone who didn’t lie, steal, or bully his way to success. There is some degree of honor necessary. You can’t be truly successful if you have sold your soul to get there.
  • A successful person has to have perseverance and patience. Some goals take a long time and you may fail many times and have to put yourself back on track. A successful person has to get back up and keep trying.
  • A successful person has to have the nerve to take risks. There’s a luck factor involved in success. Fortunes were made merely by being in the right place, at the right time, and being prepared and willing to take on the job. Fortune favors the bold.

Based on this definition, I suspect there is no one who is perfectly successful. That being said, I do think a few famous people have achieved enough to be considered a success. I might not agree with what they accomplished, but I do admit they were successful at their objectives. Here are a few people I think might be considered relatively successful.

  • Steve Jobs. He was very successful at starting and leading Apple to the height of it’s position in our society.
  • Elon Musk. He managed to start and lead several successful companies, and is seen as a visionary by some of his fans.
  • Bill Gates. I don’t always agree with him, but I believe he was very successful at getting Microsoft to it’s prominent role in our society.
  • Steven King. He’s on my mind because I’m reading his book On Writing. I wouldn’t say he is my favorite author, but I believe he has been very successful.

Security and adventure.

What am I seeking, security or adventure? To me, security and adventure are on a spectrum. You can’t just have one or the other. Some people believe they are secure in their homes, with the doors locked, and then a burglar proves them wrong, or war breaks out in their country, or a natural disaster leaves their home in ruin. Other people push it in the other direction by taking extreme risks that make most of us question their sanity. Why do you need to top out this car’s speedometer? Is a wheelie on a motorcycle really a good idea? Can you afford to bet the mortgage payment on a poker hand? Thrill seekers probably have interesting stories, but a lot more bones broken.

I believe the world we live in is not exactly solid, especially when we look at future events. There is literally an infinite number of things that could happen in the next moment. Every one of these things exists as a statistical possibility, but only one of them will come true for me or you. Some events are pretty likely to happen, but others have a very low chance of occurring. For instance, an elephant will probably not materialize in my bedroom right now, but I still believe there is an infinitesimally small chance that it will. I basically don’t believe anything is impossible, but a lot of things are extremely unlikely.

With the statistical model of the universe in mind, I try to play the odds in my favor. For example, I knew the odds of making a great salary would be low with no education, so I acquired advanced degrees. It doesn’t guarantee something good will happen, but I’m guaranteed to fail if I’m ill prepared when the time comes around. There’s actually an interesting little book I read about maximizing your chances of having Good Luck. I recommend you give it a read. I also play the stats on the other end. I won’t do something that has a very high chance of failure or death. This is why I don’t jump out of airplanes. I simply don’t see a good reason to engage in the type of thrill seeking that will end in a painful death. In these ways, it is clear that I’m seeking a high degree of security.

On the other hand, I do crave adventure, but what is adventure? I could easily write a book entitled Adventures in Blogging! It sort of has been an adventure for me honestly, but it might not be as exhilarating as ramping a motorbike or hang gliding over an expansive canyon. It’s still a kind of adventure, because adventure is about experiencing something you never really dreamed of doing, isn’t it? Remember when you were young? Wasn’t everything an adventure? I could spend hours climbing trees, chasing butterflies in the garden, playing hide and seek, and the list goes on and on. It was all new to me, and every day was an adventure! Sure, anything you do can be dangerous, but I believe risk can be minimized if you play the stats just a little in your favor, and life was really made for adventure!

To answer the question, I think most people want a plate full of security, with just a little adventure sprinkled on top for seasoning. That’s about the way I want it, but I could use a little more seasoning right now. I haven’t had a vacation in quite a long time actually. Maybe it’s time for me to start planning an adventure right now!

Note: Someone already beat me to writing Adventures in Blogging, but it doesn’t sound as adventurous as I had in mind. Maybe one day I will write a better one. That would definitely be an adventure.

Agree or disagree? Are you a thrill seeker? Did you have an adventurous childhood? What sort of adventure would you like to go on today? Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to like, subscribe, follow, and share!