The lie of Success

Success has always been a great liar. ~ Nietzsche

Yes, I have found another quote on success that I really enjoy. I was originally not going to be writing about success again, but I did not personally like any of the directions I was heading in and found this quote.

In past posts I have stated that I ardently believe that great success comes from a failure. I do not believe you can fully appreciate success without  having much failure. Maybe this thought is due to the fact that I highly respect people who are in high positions who are still humble.

Success has always been a great liar. ~ Nietzsche

In a past post about success, I pointed out the fact that I hate the definition of success. I don't believe that the definition fully encompasses the truthful side of success.

We are spoon fed the idea when we are children that if you do not make a certain amount of money, or have a certain type of job or don't own the right things then you are not a success. This type of success is such a lie. This type of success is basing your entire life off of the expectations of other people's perception of success, while success should be a personal decision.

For example, during my last semester in college I had a practicum and a professor whom I respected at the beginning of the class. I thought I had a pretty good relationship with my professor and thought I was achieving all that I need to achieve (I have been learning not to be a people-pleaser). The group I was in turned in a paper that she did not approve of and ripped into me because I was the team leader. When she did this, it tore into my ego and left me with a lot of self-doubt because I was no longer successful, especially in the eyes of someone who I had highly respected.

That experience has left a lasting impression on me for a number of reasons, but more so the idea of what success is. I have looked back on our project and laugh at it, because it was not fully relevant nor would it have ever been able to be properly executed in a real life situation. But knowing that even now, it still doesn't take away the most important lesson I could have learned. I am the only one who can define my personal success and not some forced in standard of success.