This is an inspirational speech on success from perhaps a compassionate or even humanist perspective. It is a thoughtful study of all aspects from feelings of inadequacy to society's ideals of meritocracy and how they are impossible.
However, I feel that success is not a relative comparison between either like or unlike peoples, but rather about self direction. To me, success is linked to an action and desired outcome. For example, I earlier desired dinner, so with motive and intent I prepared my dinner. I have met with success in this endeavor because the result I desired ensued. What if I had not manged to make dinner in spite of my desire? Well we'll come back to that.
I feel that in a monetary respect, I am no where near the most successful of my peers. In fact, those who have studied more in demand fields are probably already earning far more than I do as a mere architectural intern. In my life, I will probably not earn as much as an investment banker, a lawyer or doctor. This is the aspect of success that the speaker addresses.
But I have met with a different kind of success. I chose a direction, oriented myself and my life, and provided motion, motivation toward a goal. Nearly 10 years ago, I decided to pursue architecture as my career path. Perhaps the impetus for choosing this goal wasn't entirely clear to me at the time, but I made a change and found success in achieving this goal. Several of my peers chose goals and failed to achieve them, but found alternate solutions or more favorable outcomes. I would label this 'failure' in the strictest sense regardless of the outcome. There were others still who wandered aimlessly, with no goal, no orientation and no drive to move toward those goals. So, which of these is the most noble? There is merit and worth in both success and failure. There is none in a refusal to act.
One of the best lessons I received in college was failing one of my structures courses. Nobody likes to receive an F in a class, but it was an eye opener for me, and I attribute this failure and the subsequent success that followed the second time around to my passing the most difficult portion of the Architectural Registration Exam.
Will people fail? Absolutely. And the speaker is right, there is an element of chance to it all. Often people tend to be in the right place at the right time, or even the wrong place at the right time. But I feel confident that in our world, people who try will have the support of those around them. We have such a conviction about trying in our country that I don't think we would allow anyone with the desire to succeed sink into oblivion. We are, however, merciless to those who would not try and rather blame their circumstances on fate or other more successful people.
When I was in highschool, we had honors night one night a year to celebrate the accomplishments of promising pupils in all areas of study. As a young attendee, I was foolish and derided those who would try and succeed. I was (and from time to time am) an arrogant ass who felt that I didn't need to prove my genius to the school. Far from being a genius, I was the biggest idiot in the room. Grades were determined mostly by work, not by thought alone, and I was too young and foolish to appreciate those who simply performed both, with the ultimate outcome being a superior performance.
Now this sophomoric idea manifests itself in professional snobbery, scoffing at the accomplishments and recognitions of great architects. Perhaps their style is not my cup of tea, but an AIA award or Pritzker prize is nothing to sneeze at. But I still find myself fighting the urge to recognize their successes because of the lack of my own.
However, I feel that success is not a relative comparison between either like or unlike peoples, but rather about self direction. To me, success is linked to an action and desired outcome. For example, I earlier desired dinner, so with motive and intent I prepared my dinner. I have met with success in this endeavor because the result I desired ensued. What if I had not manged to make dinner in spite of my desire? Well we'll come back to that.
I feel that in a monetary respect, I am no where near the most successful of my peers. In fact, those who have studied more in demand fields are probably already earning far more than I do as a mere architectural intern. In my life, I will probably not earn as much as an investment banker, a lawyer or doctor. This is the aspect of success that the speaker addresses.
But I have met with a different kind of success. I chose a direction, oriented myself and my life, and provided motion, motivation toward a goal. Nearly 10 years ago, I decided to pursue architecture as my career path. Perhaps the impetus for choosing this goal wasn't entirely clear to me at the time, but I made a change and found success in achieving this goal. Several of my peers chose goals and failed to achieve them, but found alternate solutions or more favorable outcomes. I would label this 'failure' in the strictest sense regardless of the outcome. There were others still who wandered aimlessly, with no goal, no orientation and no drive to move toward those goals. So, which of these is the most noble? There is merit and worth in both success and failure. There is none in a refusal to act.
One of the best lessons I received in college was failing one of my structures courses. Nobody likes to receive an F in a class, but it was an eye opener for me, and I attribute this failure and the subsequent success that followed the second time around to my passing the most difficult portion of the Architectural Registration Exam.
Will people fail? Absolutely. And the speaker is right, there is an element of chance to it all. Often people tend to be in the right place at the right time, or even the wrong place at the right time. But I feel confident that in our world, people who try will have the support of those around them. We have such a conviction about trying in our country that I don't think we would allow anyone with the desire to succeed sink into oblivion. We are, however, merciless to those who would not try and rather blame their circumstances on fate or other more successful people.
When I was in highschool, we had honors night one night a year to celebrate the accomplishments of promising pupils in all areas of study. As a young attendee, I was foolish and derided those who would try and succeed. I was (and from time to time am) an arrogant ass who felt that I didn't need to prove my genius to the school. Far from being a genius, I was the biggest idiot in the room. Grades were determined mostly by work, not by thought alone, and I was too young and foolish to appreciate those who simply performed both, with the ultimate outcome being a superior performance.
Now this sophomoric idea manifests itself in professional snobbery, scoffing at the accomplishments and recognitions of great architects. Perhaps their style is not my cup of tea, but an AIA award or Pritzker prize is nothing to sneeze at. But I still find myself fighting the urge to recognize their successes because of the lack of my own.
Comments
Post a Comment