Is it talent? Definitely "NO", as there are many people out there without any discernible talent, yet they do succeed sometimes! For instance, if you look at the field of acting, you will find many actors who have little to no talent, but still find work. So if talent isn’t completely necessary, than what is? There could be many more factors such as confidence, opportunity and luck that seem to play their parts along with talent. I am not interested to know how to be a celebrity or an actor but searching for key indicators of success in life! So beside confidence, opportunity, talent and luck , what you think are the key ingredients to success in life?
Theodore Roosevelt quote "The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people."
Real genuine success is attained by honest straightforward hard work. I am not concerned about faked artificial success because its owner will be living a very big lie.
Dear Prof Mahmoud Omid it is honest hard work with positive behavior. Regards
Dear @Mahmoud, I think that hard working is the main underlying force behind success in life.
Positive attitude, motivation, contribution to oneself and society, and hard work are main forces behind success in life.
Yes Dears. Hard work is essential factor as you mentioned it all. Thank you.
“It's hard to beat a person who never gives up.”
― Babe Ruth
“The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.”
― Thomas A. Edison
Here is an answer, dear Mahmoud!
https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_makes_the_man_and_woman_of_success_in_your_opinion
Real genuine success is attained by honest straightforward hard work. I am not concerned about faked artificial success because its owner will be living a very big lie.
Proper success is always a bitter - sweet of hard work, right connections, determination and perseverance in the direction one wants to pursue to reach to a summit.
Dear Mahmoud,
I think there is a little more to the equation than has been mentioned so far. Many people have worked as Nizar suggests and economically never left the neighborhood. Many were lucky and hit the lottery but find themselves homeless and broke due to unwise spending and bad investments. Many people also behaves, have positive attitudes and still remain in the same economic level as there fathers.
I would suggest that possibility it is who you know that helps one hard working person become an economic success over the other with the same skill set, motivation, and attitude but not the powerful friends.. Some people's friends or neighbors are in position to open doors of opportunity that others do not.
Just an added thought that may possibly be help some and perhaps limits others.
Douglas.
P.S. (my fathers "success" is based on the rapid raise in real estate) and his high school friend was a property broker. He was in the right place, time, and friends in the right place to make the family live a nice comfortable life.
“Success is not a destination, but the road that you're on. Being successful means that you're working hard and walking your walk every day. You can only live your dream by working hard towards it. That's living your dream.”
― Marlon Wayans
Dear Dr. Douglas, I appreciate your point of view. In my opinion, success is not necessarily improvement in economic conditions (though it is important). When one of us teaches a "tough" subject, does not participate in preparing the "tough" exams for his/her students, and more than half the class of 50 students get (A's & B's), then it is a "sweet" success for the teacher. This is what I felt last semester. In such case, there were neither economical aspects nor VIPs opening the gates.
Dear Mahmoud,
I think we should first define what we understand by "success". Your example of an actor makes reference to popularity or social recognition, which would be one possible aspect. Success at this level implies "cultural values" or "collective understanding" for certain society or community
At a personal level we could define success as the achievement of goals previously set by an individual. In this case, we don't know if the person has been successful in life, because there is asymmetry of information; we don't know what this person understands as success although we can see his/her achievements.
Under the first concept Mother Teresa of Calcutta, to point out just one example, was not successful for the vast majority of people and many of them didn't even know of her existence till she received the Nobel Prize in 1979. On the other hand, a Rock Star or a Soccer player would be considered the paradigm of success for his/her popularity and wealth.
In institutionally stable countries, i.e. where the rules of the game are not changed in the short/medium term, DETERMINATION and PERSISTENCE are main explanations of success. In these societies, randomness or luck play only a little part. Take the case of two different societies: USA and the USSR in the past. It was clear what meant to be successful in both, the rules of the game were clear and enforced, i.e. complete and symmetric information.
In institutionally unstable countries, RANDOMNESS and ETHICAL FLEXIBILITY, play an important role in achieving success. In a corrupt polity, you cannot have rigid ethics and be successful, because in order to achieve your goals you need to make concessions. The amount of ethics you are willing to trade off to achieve your goal is a clear indicator of your ethical flexibility.
Regarding your assertion about TALENT. I believe that in order to be successful, at a personal or collective level, you need to have it. May be a "hidden" talent, not obvious to the observer; the word you used "discernible" is perfectly fitted for this discussion. In some cases it will be the TALENT to identify opportunities, or the TALENT to flex your ethical values, or even the TALENT to cheat and commit fraud. About this latter, I would say that not all of us have this talent, only very few.
The above arguments are not meant to be "value judgements", but "instrumental", in the realm of Individual and Societal VALUES, RESOURCES or Means and GOALS. These are the main conceptual elements to analyze.
Social capital may also be considered as an explanation to success, but this concept is strongly linked to Societal or shared VALUES within certain community, so it is circumscribed to them.
I hope this helps to see another approach to success
I think that we need to define what is success in modern time and how it differs from standards in previous time. Because most of the people define success as a good thing. When they think of success they usually think of material benefits, happiness, and accomplishment. Personal success comes in many different forms.
Dear Dr. Nizar,
I am in total agreement with the sweet success that teaching offers and sometimes gives. I have taught secondary education for two decades and over 90% of that time in schools that are listed as title 1 schools in crime ridden impoverished neighborhoods.
In my first post I was alluding to the fact that given two people with equal talent, drive, attitude, and personality and one becomes successful and the other is left behind in any area they defined as success is not solely about the individual person. There are many social structures, cultural attitudes, religious beliefs, color of skin, weight, health, looks, and in the U.S women who want to become mothers have barriers that others do not. This includes social circles and the "connections" one has as opposed to the other.
Given the fact that we do not live in a bubble of equal opportunity, due in large part to preconceived conscious or unconscious beliefs regarding women, men, skin color,ect I would suggest we broaden the scope of this discussion to include the social influences as to what limits or helps the social actor attain what ever they personally define as success.
Douglas
I agree with Alejandro R. Silva except for some details which are related with given examples.
I would say it is a hard work and determination, as many of my colleagues have already mentioned! Such example is NOVAK DJOKOVIC! He is dedicated! Right now Novak Djokovic fights for his fifth title at the Australian Open tennis. World No.1! Blind persistence is one of his main underlying forces as an ability to make a good team around!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novak_Djokovic
- Access to resources and information.
- Strong Communication channel.
- Identifying the right opportunity and seizing it.
Hard work and motivation is behind this new success! Novak Djokovic beats Andy Murray in Australian Open men's final – as it happened!
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2015/feb/01/andy-murray-v-novak-djokovic-australian-open-mens-final-live
Dear Ljubomir here is collection you can add to your sport links. thanks.
“Things that hurt, instruct.” – Benjamin Franklin
“If you are going to be a champion, you must be willing to pay a greater price.” – Bud Wilkinson
“You can’t make a great play unless you do it first in practice.” – Chuck Noll
Finally, “Success is about having, excellence is about being. Success is about having money and fame, but excellence is being the best you can be.”– Mike Ditka
Dear @Mahmoud, the first proverb by Benjamin Franklin speaks about failure and success! We must teach from failures, as it leads to success! Failure is necessary to learning. "Thomas Edison, Theodore Roosevelt, Sir Edmund Hillary, Abraham Lincoln, J.K.Rowling and Sir Winston Churchill are just a few of the many who fall into this category. In fact, it may be difficult to name anyone who has achieved a great deal of success without first encountering some significant failures along the way."
http://www.tlnt.com/2014/02/20/sometimes-it-takes-failing-to-ultimately-find-success/
Derek Jeter quote :There may be people that have more talent than you, but theres no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do.
http://www.searchquotes.com/Sports/quotes/about/Hard_Work/
Success Formula by Ev Williams:
He revealed his "Formula for Entrepreneurial Success." His leadership equation consists of five parts added together to make a whole--a successful entrepreneur:
1. Work with amazing people. "Don't compromise on who you choose to found your company with and hire. Do not put up with ego-centric personalities or downer attitudes," Williams writes.
2. Take on big challenges. "It's pretty simple: Hard things are valuable; easy things are not so valuable," he writes. "Reaching the mountaintop is rewarding because it is hard. If it was easy, everybody would do it."
3. Focus. "Say no to most things: Features. People. Partnerships. 'Coffees.' Projects. Only a few of them really matter. (Yes, it's hard to know which.) Don't get distracted," Williams writes.
4. Take care of yourself. "When you don't sleep, eat crap, don't exercise, and are living off adrenaline for too long, your performance suffers. Your decisions suffer. Your company suffers," he says.
5. Love those close to you. "Failure of your company is not failure in life. Failure in your relationships is," Williams writes.
http://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/5-leadership-equations-for-success.html
Luck and connection, plus determination and dedication equal success.
Let's see if this way of memorizing the word (acronym) SUCCESS works. The acronym you dd not know!
Seven qualities featured in the attitudes and thinking of successful personalities.
SUCCESS = Sense of direction, Understanding, Courage, Charity, Esteem, Self-confidence, Self-acceptance.
http://bighow.com/news/75-most-useful-acronyms-for-business-and-work-the-success-manual
Usually, those people that do not have many options, but to go towards a success, based on hard work and honesty.
Dear Costas. Thank you. Hard work pays off! Patience is the best currency and persistence is your best investment.
Hard work is the main important thing. Attention and confidence is other among the essentials.
The biggest underlying force behind success in life is the persistence despite setbacks. The person who believes in what he/she is doing and continues despite all failures and setbacks, ultimately succeeds.
I dedicate my work hard to lead my remining life ahead with dignity
Dear Krishnan. Should not be dedicated to the future generations, too? I am sure they will be benefited as well. Anyway, the reason we often quote/remember great scientists Einstein, Edison, Tesla, Fourier, etc. is not because they were hard workers only but they made such great dedications and care for our better life. Remember that the success of an individual's career in the real world rarely depends on his/her major and everyone has equal chance to lead his/her remaining life ahead with dignity and to be remembered in future.
I think its a passion towards work with Capacity to do hardwork with honesty will lead to success. IF you keep your eyes open and dare to take a risk, success will be there. Obviously opportunity, luck factors do play important role where as talent gives the pace to achieve success.
Doing what is right based on values and beliefs.
Being genuine in thought and action
Being committed to life and everything that set out to accomplish in life
Letting ethics, morals, and honour be the guiding principles.
Getting hold of inner wisdom.
Being focused on what to achieve in life.
Showing good judgment and sense in life.
Being kind to others and extending courtesy towards them.
What is a self-made man? A self-made man is anyone who attains far greater success than his original circumstances would have indicated was possible. The self-made man often has to overcome great obstacles to achieve his goals. Self-made men attain their success through education, hard work, and sheer willpower. While no man is an island, it’s not external help or special relationships that make the crucial difference in the self-made man’s rise. Nor is luck the deciding factor.
25 of the Greatest Self-Made Men
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2008/12/28/self-made-men/
The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History
The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History is a 1978 book by Michael H. Hart, a self-described white separatist, reprinted in 1992 with revisions. It is a ranking of the 100 people who, according to Hart, most influenced human history. The first person on Hart's list is the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Hart asserted that Muhammad was "supremely successful" in both the religious and secular realms. He also believed that Muhammad's role in the development of Islam was far more influential than Jesus' collaboration in the development of Christianity.
To see the full list, plz follow:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_100:_A_Ranking_of_the_Most_Influential_Persons_in_History
Dear John, Thomas Edison once said " Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."
Therefore we should never give up on what we really want to do, as the person with big dreams is more powerful than the one with all the facts.
“If you really want something, and really work hard, and take advantage of opportunities, and never give up, you will find a way.” ―Jane Goodall
Confidence, commitment, courage, passion, trustworthiness, congeniality and hard work.
Actor Denzel Washington Delivers Incredibly Passionate Speech About Faith, Hard Work and Life’s True Riches!
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/05/28/actor-denzel-washington-delivers-powerful-message-to-young-people-about-hard-work-and-thanking-god/
https://youtu.be/ESa45s7R4R8
A look at the following book may give some clues.
E=MC2: The Hidden Formula for Success by Aryeh Yahshua
You were born with everything you need for success. The only thing standing in the way of you opening the door to a lifetime of opportunities is having the RIGHT KEY. E=MC2 has been hidden and right in plain view. This book explains E=MC2. When you learn the secret of E=MC2 and its relationship to you, you will understand why knowing its secrets are necessary for everyone seeking any success in life.
There hidden in plain sight within the pages of this book laid the underlying force of the Law of Attraction and all Universal Laws. It is the secret to success and the easy life.
Hard work! If you want to achieve some really big and interesting goals, you have to learn to fall in love with hard work. Hard work makes the difference. Any meaningful purpose will require hard work. When you become driven by a purpose greater than yourself, you embrace hard work out of necessity.
To read more on this issue follow the link below:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/03/hard-work/
There are several factors behind the success of any action. The first is the faith in the success. Then followed by the effort and continued to work despite the difficulties, the sacrifice, the supporting of others. The desire for self-realization.
Dear Mahmoud Omid,
I consider that a family the most important. If in a family all is good, then other works too will be excellent.
Regards, Shafagat
In my humble opinion that to succeed in life every human being must make peace and accept yourself. Then live life as simply aspire to happiness for every person to make
I do believe in great involvement, hard work, your patience for real mental satisfaction, these all are underlying forces for success in life. Ultimately, Success is your Karma/ or contribution and fulfillment of mental satisfaction in life.
No lucky stars, but hard work.
https://meetville.com/quotes/tag/success/page241
Dear @Marković. Luck and success are related. Actually, about 'Luck factor' I have already posted a question in RG few months back with so many good response. This was the question: Which is more important: to be lucky or to be skillful? If you are interested more follow the link below.
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Which_is_more_important_to_be_lucky_or_to_be_skillful
How to ensure your success? Gaining integrity and morals is more important than knowledge. Recently I came cross an excellent article and very thought provoking. It was about "Human Qualities You Must Have to Succeed in Work and Life". I decided to share it here as it provides the main ingredients underlying the forces behind success in life. What makes professionals successful? Empathy, intuition, creativity, passion, and the desire to learn throughout their career:
Essential Qualities:
1. Be Empathetic
2. Be Intuitive
3. Be Creative (“Creativity is contagious.”—Albert Einstein)
4. Be Passionate
5. Be a Life-long Learner
Qualities of Effective Team Members:
6. Be a Good Listener
7. Be Persuasive
8. Be Responsible and Kind
9. Be a Leader
Foundational Human Qualities:
10. Be Honest and Have Integrity
11. Be Courageous
12. Be Self-Aware
13. Be Wholehearted
Details of each item can be read in the attached link.
http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2014/09/13-human-qualities-you-must-have-to-succeed-in-work-and-life.php
First define success/ failure. Often we see head lines .... had successfully carried out the operation. But in the same episode some failures did happen to the other side, only thing is that our measure of so called success is one sided and biased!
well i may be wrong!
Based on my experience, Beyond doubt- success in life requires patience and perseverance.
Thank you for your comments. `PERSEVERANCE IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS` Definitely those who succeed in life owe their success to perseverance.
The main underlying force behind the success in life is crystallized in one of my quotes:
"A rough diamond is not the same value as a cut diamond. The added value comes from human labor"
We has human being are born with nature gift of our mind brain purity of heart with intuitive vibratory forces . This remains our challenges forces for our success in life .
We all know that our life is not bed of roses ,we have to take care ,we have to remain an observer & for the success we have to control & guide main 5 negative elements which remain the part of every human being .
With this we have to carry out every action of our life & in this line we have to come across hurdles & also to come across quite good experiences of personal disturbing forces .
For this we have to accept the challenge of the life with firm faith,determination,with our will power & last but not the least a silent control of our mind under a FAITH may certainly place to the road of our success .This is my personal opinion
Thank you for all interesting comments. So far many good criterion have been covered but not yet in a way to find a unique factor. Powell once said “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” It would be interesting to see how success is achieved. To help get there, six good habits is presented in the following slide:
Motivation - which could be the result of conditioning early in life. If this is so you cannot "teach" motivation once the critical period (first few years) of the child is over. The "search for reward" (not fame or fortune - but self-actualization) is at the core of "success" in life. "Success" in life is how you feel about what you have done or are doing.
If Hard Work Doesn't Guarantee Success, What Does?
"For decades we heard that hard work was the number-one factor in a person's success or failure, in business or in any other arena.
We worked hard in school and were rewarded with good grades and approval from the grown-ups, so we brought our hard-work mindset into the workplace.
Hard work is important. I subscribe to the old adage that anything worth doing is worth doing well. Still, I learned long ago that hard work is not the key to success -- not by itself. I hope you got that memo, also!..." An excellent article!
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hard-work-doesnt-guarantee-success-what-does-liz-ryan
You are quite right dear Ljubomir. Although the hard work does not bring success after our great satisfaction will therefore no regret for trying
Action verses Thinking! Action is at the heart of active change. Knowledge and thinking are a necessary steps toward success but won't guarantee us to the goals that we are aiming for. To build a solid foundation on which to be more successful some more steps (planning, consistency, flexibility, etc. ) are needed.
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/08/28/5-ways-to-help-guarantee-success/
The main underlying force behind success in life may be the way how one defines and perceives success.
Regards
Dear Mohammad thank you for your comment. It's a curious world. In practice, there is only one thing (secret) behind any success: It is to be able to spend your life in your own way.
To the book by Efroimson V.P."The Prerequisites of Genius",Very often so called makers of fates are fools(it's natural from the social point of view).Development of geniuses and talents is a biosocial problem,realization of talents is a socio-biological problem(inheritance and the most favourable social continuity).Gifted people can be-potential; developed; realized.The secret of "flash"of geniuses is in the growth-promoting environment (Athens,Renaissance,"the effect of Lyceum"(Tsarskoye Selo),"the noble period" of Russian literature,the epoch of "merchant's patronage of art".Even if a small country with 5 mln.inhabitants achieves development and realization of 10% of its potential geniuses and talents,in half a century this country can leave other countries,which preserve the existing barriers,preventing development and realization of the potential,far behind."Thus,the barrier of social obstacles is terrible.It affects success of talented personalities.
http://vivovoco.astronet.ru/VV/PAPERS/MEN/EPHRO.HTM
Dear @Irina Thank you for comments and the link.
Goethe reminds us: “Nothing is worth more than this day.” Don’t dwell on the past. Make better choices today and move on.
“Abraham Lincoln lost eight elections, failed twice in business and suffered a nervous breakdown before he became the president of the United States.” — Wall Street Journal
As you rightly pointed out chronic negative attitudes can adversely affect one’s health, happiness, success and well-being Eight common negative thoughts excerpted from attached book: "How to Let Go of Negative Thoughts and Emotions (link is external).”:
1. Self-Defeating Talk
2. Negative Assumptions
3. Negative Comparison with Others
4. Negative Rumination about the Past
5. Disempowering Beliefs about Difficult People
6. The Desire to Blame
7. The Struggle to Forgive Yourself
8. The Fear of Failure and Making Mistakes
For instance, Self-defeating talk are messages we send to ourselves which reduce our confidence, diminish our performance, lower our potential, and ultimately sabotage our success.
http://nipreston.com/new/project/how-to-successfully-change-your-negative-thoughts-and-emotions/
What is main underlying force behind success in life?
Agreed with all the good points shared by RG members like good interaction with other people, honesty, determination, hard work etc.
Finding passion & perseverance are also important in contributing to success in life. Because success never come easy and only happen after numerous failures. Passion & perseverance can fuel the entire journey to success despite multiple failures that might prompt us to redraw. Also finding more and more people, organization & government agencies looking for employees that have high Resilience Quotient or Adversity Quotient. If you want you can refer to the following links:
https://www.google.com/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=11ihVp2jBqrR8AeHpbWYCg&gws_rd=ssl#q=resilient+quotient
http://www.peaklearning.com/about_aq.php
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=what+are+the+differences+between+resilience+quotient+and+adversity+quotient
Nobody seems to mention destiny as a force. Is there a conspiracy against the fate-accompli?
I am also of this view that your conduct with other is always becomes major force for your success. Apart form this one's dedication and love fr your work is biggest factor for the getting success.
In Indian values, we always put elders blessings on top for our overall well being.
The main forces behind Underlying success in life is to want, to believe and to undertake
There has been many good answers giving important factors such as hard work, honesty, perseverance, honesty, and motivation behind success in life. What else is needed? Prayer, since it helps us refine and affirm what we want out of life. With God on our side, we can be successful in life, business, exams, academics, job, health, ...
Dear @Mohammad Israr Khan, As for destiny you mentioned I am not so sure if it is an underlying force for success or not (as it is a predetermined course of events).
“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” –Jim Rohn
We had a very good discussion on this issue already in RG (Please see link).
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Fate_and_Destiny_How_they_differ
The traits of character and credo help a human being to have success in surviving.Colas Breugnon(R.Rolland) is a humorist,having a philosophical attitude to life :"I'm alive and kicking!" Pangloss (Voltaire) is with metaphysical extravagance:"All is the best in the best of possible worlds".Sarcastic,cynical Ostap Bender (I.Ilf and E.Petrov),"The time,which we have is the money,which we haven't"or "Kisa, we are unwanted persons at this feast of life".
Someone, for instance, buys a lottery ticket and gets first prize of a gigantic value. She uses this money to successfully live her dreams. What are the underlying forces?
Regards
George Sir
What a brilliant definition of success you have offered!
Thanks and Regards
One should not underestimate the role of will and courage if s/he is searching for success in life:
“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will." –Vince Lombardi
“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." –David Brinkley
The success is not by man against. There is another thing that is not negotiable value. Albert Einstein in a famous quote highlights the value of man before success.
"Do not try to become a man that is successful. Try to become a man of value". By Albert Einstein
It is not Facebook,it's a scientific net,that's why creative,highly professional,talented poets and musicians have a right to have a word about success,haven't they?Kindness and responsiveness may face the betrayal and lying wall.Once a cheater,always a cheater.Don't waste your time on the "cheap" (double-faced) people,if you can.Boris Grebenshchikov,"Aquarium" (St.Petersburg):"Don't beat me up about bravado,don't put me shame for my broken face.//I'd like to coronate or may be,to live under the same roof with the beloved.//I'm not sorry,that I haven't gone native here,I'm not sorry,that I have been born and lived.//You can't buy a fate in the shop,you can't cauterize its tail with the small piece of coal//My death is driving in the black car with the blue light".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAuJfdwzTyc
Dear @Mahmoud, I do very agree about the role of will and courage for success in life. Behind, as for successful people integrity may play an important role also.
Courage and integrity are at the core of successful leadership.
"Leadership grows from courage and integrity, and their seeds lie in everyone. These character traits are primarily learned, not innate. And no matter what your past or present, cultivating their role in your life can make your future bolder, more decisive and more successful.
Courage is the ability to do what needs to be done, regardless of the cost or risk. Integrity is the ability to do the right thing, no matter what the doubts or temptations. A leader who can consistently do the right things, when they need to be done, is a leader with courage and integrity..."
http://www.cio.com/article/2442376/leadership-management/courage-and-integrity-are-at-the-core-of-successful-leadership-.html
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