SATURDAY, MAY 04, 2024
John Malvino Alfonso
Many of us live as we please, pursuing our freedom. In this pursuit, we feel nothing is lacking. Once again, we feel proud to have accomplished something in life. How strange is the attitude of those who live in such an environment. Success in life is often deemed sufficient. The means, methods, and type are often disregarded; however, success remains the ultimate goal. A driver boasts of succeeding by speeding up without following traffic rules. Let’s examine two incidents to understand whether to solely focus on success or to achieve success effectively by maintaining integrity.
Incident 1: The college lecturer aimed for excellent results, instilling discipline not only in the classroom but also in the field of education. Highly regarded, he intimidated students and made a name for himself. However, after he left, the college's results declined.
Incident 2: Ashok worked for a company for five years, boosting revenue and instilling discipline. Though he left, the discipline he instilled flourished, and the company now thrives.
Often, when achieving success, we tend to solely focus on the assigned responsibility or the laid-out plan that needs to be accomplished. It is difficult to determine to what extent such success bears fruit. In the first incident, the teacher was solely focused on the results. He intimidated the students and achieved good results. However, their fears lasted only a short time. If we only focus on success with the given responsibility, we are essentially in a running race today. Many accompany such victories. These companions only stay with the successful until they achieve success.
If you work only with success as your goal, there is no place for values. The language of principles and values is useless in the face of success. The victory gained by removing the language of principles and values for happiness only helps to become famous. We are glad we added something, but this victory is only temporary. It is very hard for those who are solely focused on success to accept that life has its ups and downs. Once failure is our lot, it doesn’t take long for our circumstances, or attitude toward them, to become automatic rejection. This makes them sit with their hands and feet spread out or a life of despair.
Deception, cheating, and bribery while pursuing success and celebrating the fulfillment of our responsibilities are increasingly prevalent among us. It is imperative that we maintain credibility while striving for success. Reliably moving toward the goal will make it easier for us to achieve success effectively. In the second incident mentioned above, Ashok demonstrated faithfulness in his responsibilities. His loyalty paid off in the company’s long-term success.
Success and achieving success effectively are different attitudes. Success only emphasizes meeting responsibilities, but impressive success goes a bit further. If the success we have achieved has a lasting impact, then the principles and values will feel like our own. The language of principles and values will soon become our life partner, helping to build a society by gaining respect.
