Success, Like Happiness, Is Ensued, Not Pursued

The Illusion of Pursuit

We’ve all seen those motivational posters — the ones with the fist-pumping businessmen or women smiling victoriously. “Success doesn’t come to you, you go get it!” the caption urges. On the surface, it’s an alluring idea: that passion and hustle alone can capture success if you just put your head down and power towards your goals.

But what if that view is fundamentally flawed? What if success can’t actually be possessed or attained, but instead ensues from the meaning we find in our pursuits?

The problem lies in how our culture defines success — as money, status, promotions, trophies on a shelf. When it becomes a transactional checklist, a quest for validation outside ourselves, it eludes true fulfillment. Because the next rung on the ladder always appears, a new benchmark for comparison. The high of achievement fades quickly when your gaze turns again to what’s next.

Happiness reveals a crucial insight here. It does not arise from fixating on feeling happy all the time. It emerges as a byproduct of the meaningful things we immerse ourselves in — raising kids, creating art, helping others. Happiness is the fragrance, not the object itself.

Real success operates similarly. Chasing accolades and status rarely satisfies…