Although everyone desires to be successful, it is important to accept the fact that not everyone will find success. What is of great importance to me is letting you know that many who do not find success are those who sit and wait for success to find them. Nobody is actually created to be unsuccessful; it is man’s inability to identify the tenets of success and applying them or applying the wrong tenets that lead to a lot of failure stories. Failure in itself is an integral part of success if properly managed. In a nutshell, everybody is a failure; but, those who manage failure well become successful.

What is Success?

Success means different things to different people. This makes it difficult to give a direct clear-cut definition of success. What one person considers success may have nothing to do with another person’s view of success. This is as a result of differences in dreams and aspirations which each person feels the measurement of their success should be based on. For instance, whereas some people consider being happily married as their own success; others are not interested in marriage. Whereas some want to be famous others just want to be rich.

Apart from meaning different things to different people, people view success from different angles. People are successful in the eyes of those who see them as being so. When someone has achieved what you have not achieved, the tendency for you to believe he is successful is high (though the person might be seriously broke); there are others who will not consider him successful. Therefore, success is in the mind just as beauty is in the eye.

Nevertheless, there is always a common denominator when people discuss success. That is having some degree of financial freedom, being satisfied with oneself and having some degree of respect and recognition from others. These are common factors that many consider to say that someone is successful. These factors may come from your education, career success, marriage or by any circumstance. Whichever one it is, many have also had the opportunity of education, career, marriage etc; yet they have neither financial freedom nor self satisfaction nor positive recognition from others. They consider themselves failure and others see their failure too. But, why do people fail where others have succeeded? Let us consider how successful people do things differently:

They Know How Success is Achieved:
Some people wonder why good people suffer poverty while the bad ones live in affluence. The armed robbers, the drug peddlers, the kidnappers, fraudsters etc all live a life of affluence whereas the virtuous ones suffer in penury. The reason is that those who do evil put more effort in what they do than those who don’t. A robbery attack, kidnapping or drug trafficking requires serious planning and meticulous execution. They plan it with all their life and all their soul putting all the effort they ever have in life. They stay up at night trying to study every aspect of their evil act to ensure success; they learn all they need to know about their evil acts; they get the finest of materials and the finest of friends to execute their plans in order to ensure success; they are consistent, articulate and accurate. When they strike, there is no part two! These are evil doers! But, has anybody tried such effort in doing good things and still fails to succeed? Those who succeed are those who put in so much in what they’re doing. When you understand that you live in a society where a whole lot is required to achieve little, you must up your acts and get down to serious business. Success is not achieved by attending crusades, vigils or fasting and praying alone. God does not bless emptiness; something must be put on ground to be blessed by God. Success is earned; it’s not innate. Some people erroneously believe that while some are born to succeed, others are born to fail. Success is largely dependent on how far you’re able to go with hard work, consistency, learning and growth, steadfastness and self discipline.

They Recognize Every Opportunity:
Those who succeed do not allow any opportunity to pass them by. They do not see the failure, but the success; they do not see the challenges, but the result; they do not see what to earn, but what to learn. Those who fail to take advantage of opportunities do not really learn much, they might not grow and they might end up losing out in the scheme of things when the time comes. Those who succeed try to study everything that comes, gives it a try and moves on if it fails. Some of these opportunities do not fail; they rather lead to another opportunity. The little offer you refuse now may be a pointer to the bigger one later. The job offer you refused because its pay is meager might be the one that will give you the requisite experience required for the bigger one. Many who are termed successful in their various careers today did not start with executive positions. Many started as clerks, grew to administrative officers and then to executives and chief executives. Those who succeed believe that opportunities come once in a life time and so they make hare while the sun shines. Do not waste time believing that you’ll just wake up one morning and become successful. Get your hand on something and get very committed with it.

They See A Channel of Growth in the Opportunity:
Those who succeed see their job as the beginning of good things to come. They develop a channel of career growth in it and ignite their success path. They learn all the possible skills required in the job at their own level and at higher levels. They acquire all the requisite qualifications required to move higher from their current position. Artisans who succeed are those who know that there is something different between being a carpenter and a furniture maker. They know that there is something better and more acceptable than what they are doing. They explore the higher opportunities and move from the status quo. A lot of artisans today take to okada and keke riding, danfo driving or being a bus conductor after acquiring very important skills. These are the ones who lack the ability to develop the opportunity they have.

They Appreciate Failure:
As I said earlier in this article, failure is an integral part of success. Failure is an opportunity to understand that something better exists. Failure destroys status quo mentality; it kills complacency. It gears you up towards exploring further. Those who succeed see failure as the oil to lubricate the wheels of growth. They do not glorify failure; they learn from it. They do not remain failures; they see a new opportunity in it. Those who see failure as a reason not to go on are never successful.

They are Consistent and Patient:
Success is not magic; there’s no short cut to it. It is a result of constant practice; it takes time; one needs to be well-balanced in one’s endeavour in order to achieve success. Everything we do has a gestation period; a time to really allow room for growth. Genuine success does not come in one day.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, let’s talk success. I know you love this article; but I want you to be part of it. There are lots and lots of reasons out there why people don’t become successful. Let’s hear yours; drop it in the comment box. Let us reason together and learn. Education is power!

Kindly visit my blog at https://www.steveobiakor.com, read and comment on more interesting topics.
See you there

Success is relative.this your topic can never be discussed to a logical conclusion because... Opinions will always differ and subject to objective and subjective reasoning.