The Success Trap: “Chasing Greatness” and Ass-holery
The “I am doing this one thing and nothing else matters” mentality is dangerous.
“As long as I meet my end goal, anything is okay. The ends justify the means. All that matters is becoming rich, having as many partners as possible, and driving fancy cars.”
Perhaps it’s just me seeing this attitude, but at least with the explosion of social media gurus and content creation, I see this mindset every day, especially in the fitness, business/entrepreneurship, and hustle-culture corners of the internet. But why is this attitude so dangerous?
It justifies shitty moral behavior and a careless, self-centered, egotistical approach to life. It makes you forget about some of the important things of life; such as our friendships and relationships, morals and virtues, and the many other things that make life worth living. if we are ready to lose those just to have X money in the bank account or a particular accolade — what’s the point of life? What’s the point of success if we lose everything along the way?
We all have seen or heard the stories of the billionaire who reached the end goal of having a crazy huge net worth and all the fancy cars and dozens of houses scattered across the world — yet he is unsatisfied. He’s longing for something more — a meaningful relationship, friends he can travel the world with, and a guilt-free conscience. All the people that cared for him before he either abandoned, manipulated, or crossed them in some way to get rich and famous. And now he spends his days by the pool alone, a pina colada in one hand, and sadness in the other.
We can see this concept in Buddhism — it’s called Dukkha. It’s often translated to as “suffering”, but sometimes as “unsatisfactoriness”. So when the First Noble Truth says that life is Dukkha, perhaps we should see that life is UNSATISFYING unless we make it. And this was the Buddha’s perspective after living like a prince, enjoying all the orgies and amazing food the world had to offer. So perhaps gaining all the awards and accolades and money may not bring you the thing you’re looking for.
Because if you have to sacrifice happiness(the friends, family, moral conscience, and things you love) to achieve success(endless riches) that will bring you “happiness” — you’ve got it wrong.
And here’s a quote from Chris Williamson’s Modern Wisdom Podcast -“You can spend a lot of time climbing up a ladder just to realize you’re on the wrong wall”.
So before you embark on your journey of greatness, ask yourself, what’s really at the end of the tunnel here? what is it that I want at the end of this road? What type of person do I want to be?
Think about the morals you want to exhibit. Do you want to be someone known solely for their net worth, or someone wealthy, but also kind, honest, caring, and a true moral exemplar,? Seriously WHICH WOULD YOU RATHER BE?
What things aren’t you willing to give up for your dream? Are you willing to give up intimate relationships? Are you willing to give up your character? Are you willing to cheat and lie to get the thing you think you want?
I know I’m not. I know I’m not keen on cutting off my friends and relationships, slaving away all day, manipulating and taking advantage of people, just to get what I think success looks like.
So please, ask yourself, what does the end of the road look like, and how can I make sure I get there without losing myself along the way?
Thank you guys, I love you ❤
