Why Don't All People Become Successful In Life
The first issue is that one must define success. Success is a relative term that will differ based on your cultural norms. Success to some people might mean having a family with x number of children and a partner all of whom are functional and happy. To others, it might mean financial success, to say, make it into a certain percentile of the income bracket. Some may define success as simply being good at what you do regardless of what that is.
Once success is defined, there are a number of reasons why someone may not meet their goals. The most common would be an unequal opportunity. Your socioeconomic status, unfortunately, plays a disproportionate role in your ultimate outcome. People in lower-income areas are less likely to successfully complete college. They are less likely to complete high school. They have fewer resources and connections.
Another reason is health. Mental health often can often cause a disability that is severe enough to prevent someone from achieving their goals. Of note, being in a lower socioeconomic bracket will also predispose you to mental health and substance abuse problems. Obviously, physical health can similarly prevent a person from meeting their goals.
Another cause could be unrealistic goals. If your definition of success is to be an NBA player, but you are 5 foot nothing and can't dribble a ball to save your life, you will assuredly fail. This is an obvious example, but some things are less obvious. To be a tenured physics professor is actually more competitive than attempting to become an MLB player believe it or not. You might be good at math but in that context, you have to be freakishly good at math.
One has to be able to thoroughly evaluate the difficulty of a task to know whether it is realistic. One also has to know that the path they are on leads to an end goal. If I major in art history, I might end up working as a very well educated barista. These studies are important, but being an engineer, nurse, physician, or something of that yolk has a defined career associated with it.
In short, if you are fortunate enough to have the health and resources to afford long term planning, you can be successful. The key is to set a realistic goal and to map a strategy to obtain that goal. The goal should provide a strong likelihood of meeting your definition of success. (Again, being a well-educated barista is acceptable for some but not others). Motivation will be necessary to carry you from point A to point B to point C. Do not allow past failures to deter you as we all must make mistakes in order to learn the appropriate way of doing things. Go easy on yourself but not too easy.
Once success is defined, there are a number of reasons why someone may not meet their goals. The most common would be an unequal opportunity. Your socioeconomic status, unfortunately, plays a disproportionate role in your ultimate outcome. People in lower-income areas are less likely to successfully complete college. They are less likely to complete high school. They have fewer resources and connections.
Another reason is health. Mental health often can often cause a disability that is severe enough to prevent someone from achieving their goals. Of note, being in a lower socioeconomic bracket will also predispose you to mental health and substance abuse problems. Obviously, physical health can similarly prevent a person from meeting their goals.
Another cause could be unrealistic goals. If your definition of success is to be an NBA player, but you are 5 foot nothing and can't dribble a ball to save your life, you will assuredly fail. This is an obvious example, but some things are less obvious. To be a tenured physics professor is actually more competitive than attempting to become an MLB player believe it or not. You might be good at math but in that context, you have to be freakishly good at math.
One has to be able to thoroughly evaluate the difficulty of a task to know whether it is realistic. One also has to know that the path they are on leads to an end goal. If I major in art history, I might end up working as a very well educated barista. These studies are important, but being an engineer, nurse, physician, or something of that yolk has a defined career associated with it.
In short, if you are fortunate enough to have the health and resources to afford long term planning, you can be successful. The key is to set a realistic goal and to map a strategy to obtain that goal. The goal should provide a strong likelihood of meeting your definition of success. (Again, being a well-educated barista is acceptable for some but not others). Motivation will be necessary to carry you from point A to point B to point C. Do not allow past failures to deter you as we all must make mistakes in order to learn the appropriate way of doing things. Go easy on yourself but not too easy.
Illustrated By:-Matthew Snider
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