What is the point of success?

Success is a moving target. It’s a cloud formation never the same one day to the next – even one minute to the next. What on earth is it?

I sent off a question today that asked, “Have we misunderstood the purpose of business and career success? Have we made business/career success an end rather than a means to personal success, such as a happy life?”

I asked this because it strikes me that we often forget why we’re doing what we’re doing as we get caught up in trying to succeed. I’ve always liked the child’s habit of asking, “Why?” It can drive you crazy because every time you answer, it prompts another, “Why?”

We want to succeed because we want to make money – create wealth for ourselves.

Why?

Because then we can pay bills and buy things.

Why?

Because we need some things and have to pay for them. And it’s nice to buy things.

Why?

Because we have to and we like to.

Why?

It goes on and on and on. In the end however, we find ourselves wondering, “Why do I need all this wealth?”

The answer is, you don’t. You really only need enough so that you don’t have to worry about where the money is coming from in order to live well. In other words, wealth negates all the difficulties that attend not having wealth. But wealth, in itself, adds nothing to the asset side of the personal ledger. But wealth is seen as an indicator of success and we want to think of ourselves as successful so we want more.

Put it this way: wealth facilitates happiness but it doesn’t create it. If this is true, then business-career success, if it’s defined as creating wealth, is a means, not an end. Do we confuse the appearance of success with actual success?

It sounds nice, if a bit airy-fairy, but when we speak of “success” we don’t account for the confounding and complex natures we human beings have. Evelyn Waugh once said, cynically, “No one is ever too happy for too long.” This is true, though it needn’t be a cynical statement. It is true because so many elements go into what makes us happy, including our always evolving natures. (Can you say Maslow?)

For instance, we find love and we are happy. For a while. Then one day we find it isn’t enough because we have no sense of purpose outside of our intimate two. Who am I in the larger social world? We don’t love any less, but to be complete we need something beyond “the two of us.” Maybe it’s a job we need – some kind of work that gives us a sense of security and purpose.

We have competitive natures, however, and we easily slip into the simple definition: success = winning. But even winning can be defined in many ways and can sometimes be a dubious achievement, as King Pyrrhus of Epirus can attest.

All of this leads me back to my first question: have we misunderstood the purpose of business and career success? Do we confuse a means with an end?

If you ask the question, “What is the point of success?” you would expect the answer should be an easy one to locate. But we get tripped up by that word, “success.” What is it? Is it the same on Tuesday as it is on Friday? Is it the same at work as it is at home?

What is it and what is the point of it?

Dictionary definition – success:

(noun): the accomplishment of an aim or purpose : the president had some success in restoring confidence.

• the attainment of popularity or profit : the success of his play.
• a person or thing that achieves desired aims or attains prosperity : I must make a success of my business.
• archaic: the outcome of an undertaking, specified as achieving or failing to achieve its aims : the good or ill success of their maritime enterprises

(New Oxford American Dictionary, 2nd Edition)

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Note: I believe the Evelyn Waugh quote comes from his travel writings in, When the Going Was Good. I can’t be completely sure, however.