You Are Already Successful
You just don’t know it yet.
We all have times when we felt like a failure. We felt as though the world had ended and there was no way to escape the mass destruction. We feared the hateful comments that might come from random strangers, or our closest friends or worst of all, our family. We could imagine the disdained look on their faces or the disappointment in their eyes, which discouraged us from getting back on our feet.
It’s no secret that achieving success is hard. No matter how much blood, sweat, and tears you’ve spent on a project, it’s not guaranteed that success will come to you. Some can spend weeks, months or even a quarter of their lives trying to obtain success, but to no avail.
But what if I told you that you’re already successful?
No, I’m not kidding. It’s true, you just haven’t realised it yet.
In the Cambridge English Dictionary, the definition of success is “the achieving of the results wanted or hoped for”. So perhaps, someone out there could be writing thousands of words every day, hoping to be the next J.K Rowling of our generation. Somebody else could be training day and night for his or her upcoming sports competition. Another could be studying for hours, wishing to ace his or her examinations. Everyone has a goal, and without a doubt, we would try our best to achieve it. After all, ultimately, we want success.
But wait. Everyone seems to have forgotten that there’s a second definition of success.
In the Cambridge English Dictionary, it also says that success is “something that achieves positive results”. So in other words, this means that we are already successful, given that we all have done things that yield positive results in our lifetime.
For example, have you ever planned a birthday party and everything went well? Have you ever confided to your closest friends? Or have you eaten your vegetables today?
These may seem like trivial matters but these examples have positive outcomes. Hence, they are successes too. Think about it. There were countless minor successes in our lives but we tend to focus too much on chasing after huge successes. That’s pretty stressful and it can be damaging to our minds and bodies in the long run.
So what should we do?
Focus on the little things
Before enrolling in my current school, there was one thing that I had always dreamt of having — the school’s scholarship. I wanted this scholarship for a long time and when I finally got the chance to apply, I seized the opportunity. A few weeks after that, I’ve got an email saying that I scored an interview with the committee. Needless to say, I went for the interview and I thought I did great. After months and months of waiting for the results, I’ve finally received an email from the committee.
Sadly, it was unsuccessful.
And in the following year, the cycle repeated itself.
I was feeling so bummed. Not only did I fail in achieving my dream goal, but also, I failed twice.
But eventually, instead of focusing on the failure, I focused on the little things.
- Not everyone is eligible to apply. The criteria of the scholarship state that the applicant must have outstanding results and a holistic profile.
- Not everyone is selected for the interview. Out of hundreds of applicants, only a few were selected to attend the interview. The competition was high.
- I went through this process twice. This means that I can excel on my third try. Yes, I was offered the opportunity again this year. With my previous experiences, I was able to answer the questions without a hitch because I roughly knew what the committee would ask me. This time, however, it’s my last chance to score the scholarship. I don’t know if I’m accepted yet, but I’m glad that I was more confident than before.
No matter the outcome, I was still successful. Not many people went through the scholarship process twice, as I did. I felt honoured and thankful for the rare opportunities that were presented to me.
So, my point is that you are not a failure. Just because you failed to achieve your dreams or goals, it doesn’t mean that you did not succeed in other areas. So what if you did not become a doctor? You’re still a loyal friend and a filial child. Get what I mean?
Remember that you are already successful, no matter how many failures you’ve gone through. You just have to open your eyes and see life in a different light.
