Читать книгу The Success Mindset Of Great Leaders - Yael Eylat-Tanaka - Страница 9

“If you are so talented, why ain’t you rich?” I have heard variations on this theme many times throughout my life, always with an undertone of reproach or downright mockery.

The message is clear: talent means success; success means wealth. That success might have many other components usually does not factor in such sentiments. Indeed, I have often wondered about my own accomplishments: I have many talents, and some of them have served me quite well. But if success is measured by monetary gains, a 6-figure salary, a Rolls Royce in the garage and a fat bank account, then I am most definitely not in that camp! According to that model, I have not “made it.”

A corollary to the above is the comment, “If you’re so rich, why are you still working?” Again, the assumption is that once you have “made it” and have amassed enough money, you should lie back with a Margarita in a hammock on the beach, and watch life go by. In fact, it is quite popular to trumpet the merits of retiring early, with some notables retiring in their 20s, 30s or 40s.

Is that success?

Donald Trump has said, “Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score; the real excitement is playing the game.” I agree wholeheartedly. Many in today’s society would eschew this remark as being disingenuous; but, in fact, money is only a means to an end and is only valuable as a score card. This may well validate the cynics’ viewpoint that if one has talent, the “score card” should reflect it. But they would be missing a great point contained in the above quote: the excitement inherent in playing the game.

Our lives have become riddled with information overload, projects to complete, extracurricular activities, and demanding work schedules. We are constantly bombarded with all manner of promotions, television ads, social media sites, direct mail offers and online seminars, all ostensibly designed to improve our lives. “Achieve all that you can!” they announce; “Make More Money!“ “Reach for The Stars!” “Be All That You Can Be!” “Shatter Your Self-Made Barriers!” they trumpet. To be sure, many of those programs are based on sound scientific research and are no doubt legitimate. It is not the programs themselves that need to be challenged; it is their focus.

I wrote this book to impart my feeling that success is much more than money and riches. Real wealth is life itself - health, friendships, family ties, connections, serenity. They elevate the human spirit and embody qualities of gratitude for every aspect of life. Anyone who has weathered adversity and survived unscathed, nay, better for having endured it, is said to be wealthy beyond avarice. That is success.

We all possess within ourselves the makings of greatness. This is not some airy-fairy proclamation, another affirmation to recite while twisted in an arcane yoga posture. It is more than positive thinking. It is an immutable truth: Human beings have the capacity to reach enormous heights as ambassadors and facilitators of progress, technology and the betterment of mankind. To be sure, there are many impediments to the achievement of greatness, yet one of the most insidious can be understood by a single principle: a bad attitude, a blindness to the riches of life; the inability to acknowledge or recognize success as representing all of life, the difficulties as well as the triumphs.

The antidote is a paradigm shift.