success

           To be successful is desired by most throughout history. Success gives one the privilege to be someone that others look up to; it means fame, glory, power, respect, and wealth for the esteemed intellectual. The desire to be successful is the reason why students study at school for good grades, it is the reason why employers work hard for promotions, and it is also the reason why companies compete for market. In the end, it is possible to conclude that the desire to be successful is the reason for the existence of humans. However, the questions that everyone asks are “how to achieve success?” and “are there any short cuts in such journey?”.

Let us begin our examination by analyzing what exactly defines a person as successful. By looking at the origin of the term, the word success comes from Latin term successus, which simply means to succeed; it is also diverted from succedere, defined as to happen. There appears to be no hidden secret recipe in the etymology of the word success; it seems, however, that the etymology is actually suggesting that success is something that naturally happens by chance. Come to think of it, this statement is true to some extent, because to some lucky individuals, success comes from simply being at the right place at the right time. Modern interpretations of success drills in people’s heads the idea that success can only happen to those who work hard, but in order to become successful and widely recognized by the public, even these elite intellectuals need to learn to take advantage of the right opportunities they bump into.

Therefore, it is concluded that success comes from a combination of sheer luck and the hard work of an individual; but how many people would be willing to work hard when they could just use short cuts and achieve the same goals with ease? These short cuts may be the act of cheating on a test for a student; it could be an employee stealing from the business for personal gains; or it may be a company imitating the successful design of another. It is obvious to see that blind desire to be successful is no longer a positive motivation for some people, instead, it dangerously vulgarizes the human nature, creating negative effects on the society and the individual.

Also, success cannot be measured by limited aspects of one’s life. A business man who generates a lot of money, with a stable job, and owns expensive materialistic possessions may be considered successful in the business field. However, due to the constant demand from his work, he may not have much time to spend with his family on a daily basis. The lack of bonding time with his wife, parents, and kids proves that he is not successful as a husband, son, and a father.

In conclusion, success is built on opportunity and skills. It dangerously causes people to give in to temptation, greed, and therefore impacts the individual negatively. Success is also a difficult trait to determine in a person, because it is not defined by a single aspect of one’s life, but the accomplishments he has achieved as a human in general.

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"Success, n." Oxford English Dictionary. Accessed November 20, 2012. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/ 

     193306?rskey=yzncuy&result=1&isAdvanced=false.