Philosophy of Personal Success, Term Paper Example

Personal success means different things to different people. Success is defined as a favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors.  To create a set theory or guideline to achieve success is virtually impossible.  Too often, we fail to envision what we see as success and therefore cannot create a plan to achieve it.  Falling victim to circumstances or why things worked out badly instead of compensating and overcoming these obstacles. For me, the philosophy of personal success includes the following theories:

Take the first steps: the power of choice. The power of choice is one choice to think and act as a devil or an angel, as a king or as a slave. The power of choice is probably one of the most important theories that will be utilized in college and throughout life.   We make our own choice based on the factors we deem as important.  This can be both advantageous and dangerous.  For example, I have the choice to attend class or to go out with my friends. I may know what is the right thing to do, or what I should do, but that does not take away the fact that I have that power to make the choice.

Accept personal responsibility: adopt the creator role, master creator language, and make wise choices.  Adopting the creator role is when a person acknowledges that life is determined by personal choices.   Master creator language is simply accepting the responsibility for the outcome of personal choices.  Making wise decisions is having a personal future in mind when deciding on what actions are best.  These three concepts are essential for life, at every stage.  Take Newton’s law for example, he states that “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”.  This is just as true in life as it is in the theoretic of science.  One will have to directly bear the consequences of bad decisions, and reap the rewards of good.  For example, as a college student, there are substantial temptations with alcohol.  To deem alcohol right or wrong is a personal decision based on beliefs, values, and views.  If I however, choose to drink then drive, I am making the decision to risk my life and others.  The outcome of that decision is no longer my choice and I cannot play a victim to the circumstances that occurs because of my actions.

Discover self-motivation: Commit to your goals and dreams. Committing to ones goals and dreams is to determine that personal priority is to work towards the set object regardless of obstacles and level of difficulties. Making the choice to go to college, accept a job, buy a house are goals and dreams that require a commitment in order to be successful.  Without this type of self-motivation, these aspirations will never be more than that.  In college we are given a syllabus with required assignments throughout a specific course.  It is my responsibility to commit to these requirements in order to successfully work towards my goal of a college degree.  There is no one else that can motivate me or push me to complete these requirements because this is my dream; I have to make the commitment to do what is required to achieve it.

Master self-management: develop self-confidence.  Self-confidence is having belief in ones ability to function and cope with the challenges of life.  This is important because it is where persistence, responsibility, and accomplishment stems from.  Without self-confidence quitting and failure is inevitable.  My first exam in college I had studied and studied for.  I felt I knew the material backwards and forwards.  However, when given the exam it was essay form, requiring analysis versus memorization.  I failed that test.  I didn’t quit or give up, I knew I was able to do better and next time, I would know how to study better to get the grade I know I deserved.

Employ interdependence: develop mutually supportive relationships.  This is when a person can function independent of others, however, has supportive relationships with the same common goals in mind.  Throughout life we will have relationships on various levels.  Intimate, friendships, and family to name a few.  Knowing ones personal goal, it is important not to let outside variables detour us.  Mutually supportive relationships are supporting a person’s goals and dreams regardless of the degree of difficulty.  I have a friend who I had grown up with.  He was big on the social scene and often would try to convince me to skip class or homework in order to join him.  I have since grown apart from him because of his lack of support for me continuing my education.

Gain self-awareness: recognize when you are off course, identify scripts, rewrite outdated scripts, and write your own rules.  Monitor personal progress and when necessary make revisions to continue moving forward when the original guidelines can no longer be viewed as valid.  In life we all have goals, some bigger than others.  We set a guideline or a course to reach that desired point.  However, along the way there are road blocks or unpaved thoroughfares, and we have to make provisions.  The way we were going is no longer the best route; we have to take an alternative route.  I discussed earlier about my first exam that I failed with flying colors.  I had studied for that exam for a long time.  The amount of effort put into preparation was more than adequate in high school for me to receive an A.  However, college is different, the rules have changed and it’s not always about simple memorization.  I had to change the way that I knew how to study in order to continue on my journey.  This didn’t mean that how I did things before was wrong, it just meant that it was not the best option for the place I am at now.

Adopt lifelong learning: become an active learner, discover your preferred learning style, learn to make course corrections, and develop self-respect.  Lifelong learning is an understanding that no matter how much one knows there is still more to learn.  Agreeing to understand that fact, make corrections as we go, and developing a respect for self is all apart of beginning an active learner.  This is an important part of college and life in general.  Understanding that no course, degree, or age has given us an infinite amount of knowledge where we can stop learning.  Life is about learning and accepting the fact that we don’t know everything.  Again I will refer back to my first exam for example purposes.  Had you told me this theory prior to my first exam I would have scoffed at the possibility.  I knew how to study, I had achieved straight A’s throughout my prior education, and therefore there was nothing I had to learn about studying.  Until I realized that this is not the same avenue, and I had to learn how to learn in a different setting.  I made the necessary corrections with self-respect versus humiliation and defeat.

Develop emotional intelligence: understand emotional intelligence, reduce stress, create flow, and develop self-love.  This is the self-perceived ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups.  Emotional intelligences is vital for my success in college, and ultimately life.  Acting in a capacity void of emotional control often results in a negative outcome.  This is where stress and emotions out-weighs knowledge and logic, allowing unnecessary actions to show.  College is a synonym of stress.  This is due here, this is due now, work, and maintain social life of some levels, there is just not enough hours in the day.  However if I allow myself to act out of emotions, it will only add to the stress.  We recently had a group assignment that was reflective of the majority of our grade.  There was one team member who really had no care or concern about this project, class, or what appeared to be their future.  It was hard not to let the stress of doing their part allow me to act on emotions in the group.  However, I knew that would only ad to the problem, increase stress, reduce the flow of the project and in no way reflect a self-loving attitude.

Stay on course: plan your next steps.  Having a specific goal, staying on course, and having a “what’s next” in mind. This is important because in order to be successful in life, it requires a detailed plan and course of action. I am working on obtaining my college degree.  Once I obtain it, I need to have a next step of action in mind. I have no intentions of reaching my goal of earning my BA, then going to work at the local gas station. I want to work for company A or company B.  I will do this by first obtaining the proper education, networking, and then interviewing for this specific position.  And so on, the planning for what is next cannot fall off once that step is reached, otherwise I am accepting mediocrity.

What is success: how do I create success?  Success is the accomplishment of an aim or a purpose.  In life we create success by our own personal choices.  Success also means different things to different people, so one person’s success is not the same as another persons.  For my life to be deemed successful to me, I have clearly understand what I view as successful.  Once I know what that means, I can create goals, directions, and a plan to reach that success.  Recently one of my friends found out they were pregnant.   I personally wondered how or if they would finish college with a baby.  For me, this would be a big road block in reaching my goals.  However, for them, this is what they viewed as successful, starting their family and their future. Doesn’t make them wrong in anyway, it just means that we have different visions of what we see as success.

Personal success is obtainable by any person.  All too often we fail to take the necessary step to achieve it.  Its too much work, takes too much time, or we chose to take the victim approach instead of creating alternatives to obstacle.  Success is hard work, it is a commitment, and it means that one can never be satisfied with their current place in life.  Utilizing the ten steps outlined in this paper is a good road map in reaching ones goals.  Knowing that it is simply a guideline and revisions will be necessary can keep one from getting stuck in a rut.  Determine what success means for you personally,  implement a plan, and never let obstacle decide your success is no longer your choice.