When one is deemed to be successful, often is the case where the public will only see the outward notes of success and not realize what went into making that person successful. Success comes in many forms; health, finances, relationships, etc.
Often is the time when people unknowingly believe that a person became financially successful because of their connections, or walking over people, or perhaps they were just lucky or have great genes. This mindset completely discounts the many years of hard work and sacrifice one has made to become successful, while it also roots itself from jealousy or envy over unbiased rationale. Whether you believe in Gladwell’s 10,000 Hours theory or not, someone achieve mostly the path to success through time, dedication, blood, sweat, tears, and yes, some luck will often come in to play.
The fact is that most successful people have given up many things in their lives to reach a certain level in life. For example, we recently had the 2021 NPC Florida Grand Prix (bodybuilding) in Boynton Beach, Florida, where the best of the best showed off their achievements. While genes help many in such a competition, it is only through hard work, discipline, and genuine sacrifice that the winners made it through to receive their accolades.
Aren’t we, as a nation, tired of being so negative toward one’s success? Instead, it should be celebrated and serve as motivation for us all to do better and achieve more. Allowing envy or jealousy to enter your mind to discount what someone has accomplished not only diminishes the success, it also is a negative emotion that lives in your mind.
On Saturday evening, Elon Musk is scheduled to appear on Saturday Night Live and some cast members are protesting; some have reportedly said they are not going on stage with him because he’s a billionaire. As with many Americans, it will be the first SNL episode I have watched in years; they expect ratings to be the highest in a very long time, and yet some will still throw stones. Why? These same people being critical of Musk appearing on SNL do not seem to have a problem with multi-millionaires living in multiple $20 million homes hosting. Like, SNL cast member Pete Davidson, it makes little sense why some do not want to share the stage with the third wealthiest person on the planet. While I have some issues with Musk and would have advised him not to do the show in the first place, if I was a cast member, I would be ecstatic to share the stage with him.
We are living in an odd time, and it is sad people are so down on those who have made the world a better place and gone over and above the norm. We shouldn’t be envious of other’s success, we should see them as inspiration to motivate us to become more productive for ourselves and society.
Karl Dickey 