Why "Success" isn't "IT"
Why "Success" might not be all it's cracked up to be.
Elvis. Marilyn. Kurt Cobain. Scrooge McDuck.
We've heard the same story so many times, it's almost a cliche.
An idealistic young person has a dream, works hard, and achieves "success" as they define it: they actually "live their dream."
The key ingredient of the story: how they imagined and defined "success."
Money. Power. Fame. Status. Sex. A family, being widely loved and adored, having respect from peers, cool clothes, parties, etc.
- and they discover that...they're not "happy."
And not just that. Something still wrong. Something's still seriously wrong. Perhaps they're even seriously unhappy.
It's a cliche.
It's the same story being told, again and again.
It's reinventing the wheel, again and again. They're rediscovering something that's been discovered a billion times before.
The point here is pretty simple.
If even one person achieves vast wealth, for example, and is still miserable...this is all the proof you need that vast wealth, in and of itself, is not the key ingredient to happiness.
If it was that simple, every person with vast wealth would be happy.
Of course, it isn't that easy.
This is pretty obvious, but the important part here isn't that non-blazing insight, but the methodology. We can work our way down the list, and almost scientifically, figure out that it's the same for the rest: fame, status, sex, and so on.
Of course, this doesn't mean the opposite is true either: that money, for example, makes anyone miserable. There are plenty of poor folks who are miserable too.
What we're searching for here is the key ingredient.
The essence. The indispensable element.
We've also been assuming so far that what we've really been searching for has been "happiness."
But maybe "happiness" isn't the best word for it, because it's such an open word with so many different meanings.
What are we searching for, anyway?
Let's just call it "IT".
So, back to our main point: if money, fame, status and so on isn't "IT"...
...then what is?
THAT, dear reader,
is exactly what we are in hot pursuit of.
Stay tuned.