“Try and try until you succeed”
This age old proverb drives the young blooded to the old blooded and everyone in between. However its not the idealism expressed by the proverb that drives most people, its the success. So how would you define success? Success is defined as the achievement of an aim or an objective. But are not our aims and objectives so fleeting?
Most people that we might come across are in a perpetual beta mode, changing their hopes and dreams to suit the best of their ability. Their ability, which has been decreasing with every passing year as they get evermore complacent and driven by convenience. So if the goals that drive our success are dictated by convenience then how are we “trying till we succeed?” Well, we are not. What we are doing however is trying not to try too hard.
The phenomena of “trying too hard” is recent but colloquially a lot more popular than it’s idealistic predecessor. Most people are trying not to try too hard or at least appear as such. In today’s world, there is a stigma attached with being an overachiever and the stigma stems from the fear of failure and success of those that rely on chance and some good fortune.
But such people have it easy, I’d assume. Would it not be great to be so aware of your limits that you cause no harm to your inherent self by trying to overachieve? When your ego remains unscathed by the momentary but ever so crippling feeling of rejection.
The idealists however, for them a world where the ego takes precedence over aspiration is rather glim and leaves much to be desired.
However with this attitude, the Idealists can wind up with a string of regrets. Resulting from no faults of their own but as a function of external factors playing mayhem in their aspirations. External factors, they elude me the most. They are not mine to control and not mine to dictate. They have a mind of their own and this mind till date remains to be one that I cannot read.
I would assume, a life where you don’t try to achieve at all would be a lot easier to live with as opposed to a life where you reach for the stars only to realise that you perpetually have a broken hand. How long till my broken hand becomes the extent of my ability? How long till my hopes and dreams become as fleeting as the next biggest internet phenomena?
I feel my resolute to be strong but slightly shaken, tipping over an inch at a time to the want of “not trying too hard”
And if not, then I remain for the rest of my life, a hopeless achiever.
Image courtesy : http://bit.ly/1DWQftX
Mokita 
In my opinion, another issue with success and achievements is that more and more of these are being determined by the society for the individual. Personal passions don’t matter for much – especially if they can not be monetized easily.
Also, as an individual, we are often blinded with the illusion that an end goal needs to be determined way in advance – even before truly identifying the individual’s inherent strengths. Goals – like our life always is – needs to be dynamic and evolving. Short-term goals (or motivating milestones) are required. Even having a vague/rough idea of what your life’s holistic purpose is could be defined by few.
“I feel like in a world where we all try to figure out our place and our purpose here, your passions are one of your most obvious guides” – Nicholas Woodman (GoPro)
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Completely agree with you AntM. A lack of true passion has left most to be bewildered to say the least.
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