Success is often seen as the ultimate goal in life. Many people spend their entire lives striving for it. However, this pursuit can include some negative consequences. Is your focus on success too intense? Success might not actually be the key to our happiness after all. What follows is a selection 9 reasons why you should reconsider your obsession with success.
9 Reasons Your Focus On Success May Be Too Intense
1. Success Is Not Easy To Define
Success is subjective, and what may be considered a success by one person may not be considered the same by another. Even our idea of success can
change based on age or life experience. This ethereal aspect of success means it can seem like your focus on success is an endless and frustrating pursuit.
2. The Pursuit Of Success Can Lead To Burnout
Constantly striving for success can impact your mental and physical health. An obsession with success can lead to prioritizing it more than your own wellbeing.
3. Success Might Not Make You Happy
Success is often portrayed as the key to happiness, but this is not necessarily true. There is no guarantee that success will fix all of your problems. In fact, many people regret the things they gave up along the way to success. In such a case, their focus on success has not resulted in good outcomes oaver all.
4. Success Can Lead To Selfishness
Focusing solely on our own success can make us selfish and neglectful of others. While the success may feel great, it is balanced by the damage we did
to our relationships and reputation.
5. Success Can Cost You
Success is not always synonymous with wealth. Many people have lost everything on their journey toward success. Pursuing success often involves taking financial risks that do not always pay off.
6. Success Creates Complacency
Often when people reach a certain level of success, they become complacent. This might not be the end of the world, but it can stop us from pushing ourselves to grow and improve. The very focus on success we rely upon to move us forward can actually hold us back.
7. Sometimes Success Makes Us Cross The Line
In pursuing success, some people may resort to unethical or illegal behavior. This type of behavior can ruin your reputation (at best) or end up having much
more serious life-long consequences.
8. May Foster A Fear Of Failure
When we become obsessed with success, we risk developing a fear of failure. Thinking of failure is terrifying when our whole persona is wrapped up in the idea of success. This fear can hold us back from learning and growing.
9. It Can Hide Our Purpose
If our sole focus is achieving success, we may lose sight of our true passions and purpose. We pursue what we think we want while what we really want slips away. This can lead to a lack of fulfillment even if we achieve much due to our focus on success.
3 Key Fast Action Steps To Bring Your Focus On Success Into Line
1. Practice gratitude: One way to stop chasing success is to focus on being grateful for what you already have.
2. Set meaningful goals: Instead of focusing on external markers of success, set goals that are personally meaningful and aligned with your values.
3. Cultivate healthy habits: Chasing success can lead to burnout and neglecting your physical and mental health. Prioritize self-care!
5 Further Reading You Might Find Helpful
Below are links to five books by top authors on subjects related to focus on success that may help you clarify, and otherwise deal with, the points made above. These links all go to Amazon where you may purchase a copy of the book indicated if you choose to do so.
Click Here to see what Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia has to say about success.
If you wish, to contact me, Stephen B. Henry, on the topic of your focus on success, or any other, reach me though the Contact Page on this website.