Happy and Successful

Happy and Successful How Dedication Leads to Self-Fulfillment

Colin Garvey

Success: self-fulfillment through dedication to the things that we love.

Garvey 1 How do we measure success?

For as long as humanity has pursued philosophy, scholars have argued the appropriate method with which to measure success. While medieval civilizations used monetary wealth and aristocratic status to determine success, the history books favor

this case. Other circumstances unrelated to

heroic leaders, regardless of their economic

success that impact earnings include a

standing. Many detractors of monetary

company laying off workers during a

success measurements propose happiness as

recession, unexpectedly winning the lottery,

an alternative. After all, with the rise of the

and the list goes on. Although money helps

entertainment industry, the importance of

individuals achieve success in the future, it

emotional stimulation becomes apparent. In

certainly does not guarantee it, as evidenced

my opinion, among the many methods of

by the visible drop in quality from nearly

measuring success, money proves nearly

any blockbuster movie to its sequel. On the

irrelevant, and happiness remains the best

subject of films and entertainment, it merits

available metric.

mentioning that critically acclaimed movies

To elaborate on the claim that cash

often do worse financially than popular but

does not factor into success, examine

unenjoyable ones. Movie, music, and art

business models. The wage gap, for

critics employ various methods to judge the

example, exemplifies that wages reflect

quality of their respective works. Common

factors other than performance—gender, in

considerations include emotional appeal,

Garvey 2 creativity, and political influence, but

than external” structures, like education and

seldom sales. For example, internet-famous

money, when it comes to predicting career

music critic Anthony Fantano of The Needle

success (Eby). Happiness not only fulfills

Drop has doled out only three perfect album

prerequisites for success, but it may also

scores in his career. Of those, two never

serve as the end goal. In the opinion of

topped sales charts. Although money

nineteenth-century Danish philosopher

presents an objective measure, critics

Søren Kierkegaard, fear of boredom lies at

consider it unfair to judge entertainment

the root of the human psyche (Pattison). He

based on sales due to the weak correlation

argues that we fear boredom more than even

between quality and revenue.

death. It follows logically that if absolute

On the other hand, measuring success in terms of happiness presents many benefits in areas monetary considerations

boredom represents “failure” for humans, happiness should represent “success”.

Whether or not Kierkegaard’s theory

fail. Human emotion has the power to enable

holds up, happiness remains a promising

and hinder success. Depression can prevent

candidate with which to measure success.

individuals from functioning efficiently in

Conversely, reliance on money to define

everyday life, while happiness can benefit

success results in a dangerously materialistic

an individual’s health, thus improving their

outlook. That said, nobody should

daily performance (MacMillan). In fact, a

realistically expect universal happiness

study published in 2003 found that

overnight. Happiness may represent the

psychological factors are “more important

ideal form of success, but like any goal it will require compromise with reality.

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Competing Interests: Success through Competition Competition represents a long-standing and much-debated construct of society closely tied to success. Interpersonal competition’s various uses throughout history include hunting, mating, warring, and performing religious ceremonies, as in the Olympics of ancient Greece (“History”). Now, competition sees equally popular use, but for different purposes. The modern Olympics serve mainly commercial and entertainment interests. Similarly, sports teams use statistics from competitions to identify the best players to draft. However, critics feel that the drawbacks of competition overshadow its usefulness. On the whole, competition offers improvement to competitors and spectators alike, but that growth comes at the cost of cooperative attitudes key to group success.

Garvey 4 On the one hand, competition allows individuals to improve rapidly by challenging and inspiring them. Comparing one’s skill to others allows quick identification of skills that need improvement. Incentives like money and fame also drive competitors to improve. Although the median salary for athletes remains below $50 thousand per year, top athletes like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lebron James can make as much as $90 million (“Athlete”; “World’s Highest Paid”). As well as money, these top competitors receive attention from fans. Spectators often idolize athletes, aspiring to achieve their level of success. Herein lies another benefit of competition: its impact on spectators. Sports and other forms of competition often impact fans’ emotions strongly, encouraging involvement. Though some people feel insecure watching successful athletes, that inferiority often evolves into a healthier desire to improve.

On the other hand, most forms of competition detract from cooperation. After all, competitions, by definition, have one winner and many losers. This unrealistic view of success insists that others must fail in order for one to succeed. Even in team competition, helping other teams lowers your own chance of winning. Supporters of competition argue that losers have more chances in the future to improve and win, but many become discouraged by the unsupportive environment naturally created by competitive spirit. In addition, the idolization of athletes and winners does not always have positive effects. Overemphasizing these individuals often dangerously places political or moral credit on people for their unrelated competitive ability. While team competition does encourage working together to achieve a common goal, individuals often get singled out for their ability. Good examples include the aforementioned Ronaldo and James.

Garvey 5 Overall, competition provides various benefits and risks in regards to seeking success.

Aspiring young athletes should not abandon their love of competing. If anything, competition will likely see an increase in popularity due to its ability to encourage success. However, amicable teammates should also see no reason to compete if they see its negative effects as a threat to the shared success of their group. As a result, while competition rises in use, it will hopefully stay limited to scenarios where it does not impede competition. In essence, we must carefully implement competition so as not to detract from achieving success in groups.

Interview: Success in Middle-Class America To gauge how middle-class Americans define success, I interviewed a patent attorney for Cleveland law firm Pearne & Gordon. This specific individual interested me for a number of reasons. First of all, I wanted to find someone I considered successful. Being an established lawyer with a happy midwestern family, the interviewee represents a desirable but not uncommon status in America. I was interested in how successful he considers himself, and I figure many Americans will find his perspective relatable. The interviewed happens to be my father, Michael W. Garvey.

My first question asked whether or not Michael considered himself successful. After some hesitation, he responded, “Yes, I guess I am”. When asked what he felt made him successful, he cited a good career, family, and health among his top considerations. He said that his success depends on his happiness, and that he would find it “very hard” to feel successful

Garvey 6 without things in his life that he loves. After some thought, he also conceded that he needs money to feel successful. However, he qualified his statement by saying that he feels content with his current economic situation. He referred to the relation between money and success as “diminishing returns”. Money does not represent a goal, he says, “it is not a measure of my success”. Rather, he considers it a means with which to achieve success. He similarly regards hard work an important element of success, but “maybe not necessary”. If he did not have money, a happy family, or good personal interactions, he would not feel successful.

When asked how competition factors into his success, Michael sighed in anticipation of a long-winded explanation. He started by describing himself as “very competitive,” but less so with age. He likes working toward a common goal with and against other competitors, as long as they consent to participate. However, he finds little purpose in many forms of competition. These include competitions of wealth, status, and popularity. His answer likely relates to his self-imposed responsibility to leave his mark on the world and do good for others. If he had to cause others to fail to achieve his own success, he reasons, it would not feel like true success.

Personal satisfaction matters a great deal to him, and he sees it as an end goal of competition.

To clarify, Michael explained that cheating to achieve a goal does not satisfy him. In the same sense, he claimed that while goals need an element of realisticness, they should challenge him enough to at least feel content with his work. If he set his goals too high—at one point he wanted to play football professionally—and consistently failed to meet them, that would significantly impede his success. On the other hand, setting goals too low would perhaps help in the short-term, but he believes it would give him no room to grow. Throughout the interview, Michael revealed how his positive outlook on life has helped him feel content and successful.

Garvey 7 Book Reviews: ​Anthem​ and ​The Will to Keep Winning Both Daigo Umehara’s ​The Will to Keep Winning ​and Ayn Rand’s ​Anthem​ emphasize an integral aspect of success: individual achievement. In western cultures, individuality and success go hand in hand. However, neither of these authors originate from western countries. Rand hails from Saint Petersburg in Russia, and Umehara from the Aomori Prefecture in Japan. Despite their collectivist upbringings, both writers celebrate the power of individual effort to generate success. Umehara does so by advising his fans on how he became the first professional video game competitor in Japan. In the case of ​Anthem​, Rand develops the character of Equality 7-2521—henceforth known as Equality—to reveal how rebellion can lead individuals to succeed despite societal limits. In both ​The Will to Keep Winning​ and ​Anthem​, the accomplishments of individuals underline vital steps to success.

Umehara’s autobiography offers a unique window into the niche world of competitive fighting games. Competitive video games, controversially dubbed “eSports,” represent a relatively small subsection of competition around the world. Yet in some cultures, competitive gaming teams outshine national sports teams in popularity. The United States and Japan are not among those countries.

Originating from a country that bans gaming tournaments due to gambling laws, Umehara had clear cultural barriers to overcome in order to become the country’s first video game competitor.

Garvey 8 His book chronicles not only his journey to becoming the best Street Fighter player in the world, but also the roadblocks he encountered. His emphasis on practice over talent encourages other competitors of any caliber to not let hardships keep them from fulfilling their goals. Umehara utilizes his authority to his fans to turn his personal achievements into lessons from which current competitors learn and by which future competitors are inspired.

Rand’s novel ​Anthem​ takes a different approach to individual success.

Through Equality’s struggle with his talents going unappreciated and even inhibited by the book’s collectivist society, Rand establishes individuality as a key component of success. Freedom of thought and expression are among the necessities, according to Rand, to allow society to progress. Via his own volition, Equality discovers electricity, but hides his discovery for fear of exposing his uniqueness.

Ironically, the highly community-focused society of ​Anthem​ that exists to ensure universal achievement over that of individuals ends up preventing any growth at all. By presenting this paradox, Rand makes clear that personal success enables growth in both individuals and the broader society, and thus deserves recognition rather than disdain.

Garvey 9 Although Umehara and Rand come from diverse backgrounds and cover different subjects in their respective books, both underline the importance of the individual. Although ​The Will to Keep Winning​ tells a more realistic story of achievement, I preferred ​Anthem​ for its thought-provoking emphasis on individuality. To me, the concept of personal growth via self-discovery matters more than the results that Umehara reaped in the form of tournament winnings. Nevertheless, I recommend both books for their unique perspectives on success and the importance of perseverance and identity.

Garvey 10 Advice Column My vision for my company is not the same as my colleagues’. At this point, I am confronted with either fulfilling my own goals or pushing them aside for the company. Is it selfish to put my personal goals above those of the group?

Everyone’s individual ideas and aspirations eventually come into conflict with those of a group. Be it at work, school, or a marriage counselor’s office, we all eventually reach a point where we have to decide between ourselves and our group. Today, many write off prioritizing personal goals as “selfish,” but serving our own interests before those of our group perhaps deserves a more lenient term: realistic. To some degree, we have a responsibility to ensure the success of everyone, but that is often simply not possible.

Sometimes, by prioritizing our own success, we can contribute more to our group because our own needs are met, and we are in a better place to help. Of course, your own success does not have to supersede the group’s. If you can all succeed, then you have no reason to leave the company.

I am a college

want a career that

student, soon

pays the bills.

to choose a

Should I take a risk

major. I love

on art or stick with

drawing, but I

a safer career like business?

It sounds like you encountered a fundamental dilemma pertaining to success: how important is happiness? Well, honestly, your happiness is the most important part of your success in life. There are a lot of ways to measure success: money, fame, prestige.

However, despite all of that, you will never feel successful unless you get contentment

Garvey 11 from your life. That does not necessarily mean you should accept a life of poverty to pursue your passion. Some people need money to feel happy with their lot in life. I hope you find a way to do what you love without living below your means.

As an employer, I frequently have to choose between two similar applicants, one of which has experienced more job instability and general failure. Clearly, I want to hire successful employees, but fear overemphasizing past mistakes. How much should applicants’ past affect my prediction of their future success?

Although it is easy to say that getting fired reflects a lesser ability to succeed, you also have to consider that there are often uncontrollable factors that cause job loss or failure.

Job loss can also often cause future job instability. On the other hand, many people learn valuable lessons from failure and perform even better after. From a business standpoint, these individuals appear unstable and risky to hire, but companies that can afford a little bit of risk will often reap huge returns for making that decision.

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About the Author

Colin Patrick Garvey​ (born July 20, 1999) is a game designer, guitarist, student, and competitor in fighting game eSports. He was born in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, to Kathryn and Michael Garvey, two of his biggest role models for success. He enjoys poetry, alternative music, and indie games. He takes pleasure in the small victories in his life. For example, he takes great pride in his CFHS jazz band performance, the virtual reality puzzle game he made during the summer of 2017, his 7th place finish at a local S ​ uper Smash Bros. tournament, and this very eZine. He plans to attend the Rochester Institute of Technology in the fall of 2018 with a major in game design.

Garvey 13 Works Cited “Athlete.” ​Sokanu​, www.sokanu.com/careers/athlete/salary/.

Eby, Lillian T., et al. “Predictors of Success in the Era of the Boundaryless Career.” ​Journal of Organizational Behavior​, Wiley-Blackwell, 12 Aug. 2003, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/job.214.

“History.” ​International Olympic Committee​, 19 Jan. 2018, www.olympic.org/ancient-olympic-games/history-old.

The Needle Drop​, www.theneedledrop.com/.

MacMillan, Amanda. “It's Official: Happiness Really Can Improve Health.” ​Time​, Time, 20 July 2017, time.com/4866693/happiness-improves-health/.

Pattison, George. ​Kierkegaard and the Quest for the Unambiguous Life: Etween Romanticism and Modernism: Selected Essays​. Oxford University Press, 2013.

“World's Highest Paid Athletes 2017.” ​Forbes​, Forbes Magazine, www.forbes.com/athletes/list/#tab:overall.