The Virtues of Success
We all spend time planning our futures; our lives. We make plans for where we want to attend school, who we are going to marry, where we want to live, what type of work we want to do and where we want to vacation in our free time. These things are all important, and these plans we make help to keep us on track as we strive to achieve our goals in life. However, how many of us ever ask ourselves: “What kind of person do I want to be?” or, “what core values will I adhere to as I strive to realize my life plans?” These, I would argue, are the most important questions of all, yet, to our disadvantage, we spend very little time assessing them.
If I were to ask you what your three greatest virtues are, how would you respond? Chances are, if you haven’t been preparing for a job interview recently, it has been a while since you’ve considered this. Or, maybe you’ve never spent time to conscientiously contemplate it – soul searching (legally) is never easy.
We go through our lives and our core values, our virtues, develop naturally. They are formed by a myriad of influences and events, most of which (presumably) lie outside of our control. From an early age we start to adopt the values of our parents and other close family members. As we grow up our friends and peers have an increasing influence on the formation of our principles. Our significant others play a crucial role. We become completely wrapped up our unrelenting day-to-day struggles that we lose track, and meanwhile, as some really funny commercials have informed us “life comes at you fast.” We really never know what’s in store, and that’s part of what makes life so great. We ace the big exam, we fail the driving test, we date, we have our hearts broken, we win the big game, we drop the winning pass, we are hired, we are promoted, we are laid off, we are accepted, we are rejected, we marry the “love of our life”, we divorce, we marry the next “love of our life”, we give birth, we lose loved ones, we move to new cities, new countries, at times we suffer tragedies and at times we triumph over seemingly insurmountable odds, and so goes the ups and downs on this roller coaster we call life, and all of this has major effects on the people we become. When we look back it seems to have all happened in the blink of an eye.
Then, one day, someone is asking you “what are your three greatest virtues?” And, even though you may be able to instinctively say something like “ambitiousness, family first, and open-mindedness”, you realize that you have never really thought about this. We haven’t the slightest idea when, where or how these values came to be; much less what part they’ve played in determining the circumstances in which we find ourselves today. Maybe it’s not until you are presented with, and really think about, this question that you realize that it was your value of “family first” that stopped you from taking that promotion which would have moved you overseas, or that your devout “ambitiousness” is what ended up leading to your divorce.
Regardless of what we call them (virtues, core beliefs, principles, standards, morals, ethics, ideals, etc.), or how they manifest themselves in our lives (whether consciously or through our sub-conscious), we cannot deny the force they exert upon our lives. They often determine the trajectory of our path without us even realizing it. Buddha said, “To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.” It’s hard to argue with the acumen of Buddha, so I won’t. However, I would add that this wisdom and virtue of which he speaks are things that we are capable of designing and cultivating for ourselves, on a conscious level, to adhere with the plans we form as we attempt to mold our lives.
With this is mind I have been on a search for virtues which I believe will lead to success in my life, although I hadn’t realized I was doing this it until recently. It started with a penchant for the biographies of people who have had profound effects on the history of the world. I read about everyone from revolutionaries, to religious leaders, to titans of industry. Some of the books that left the greatest impression were Nelson Mandela’s A Long Walk to Freedom, the autobiography of Mohandas Gandhi, Roger Lowenstein’s Buffett: The Making of An American Capitalist, Freedom in Exile by The Dalai Lama, and Walter Isaacson’s Einstein: His Life and Universe, among many others. There are many lessons to be learned from these extraordinary individuals, and while I was impressed, entertained and inspired by their stories I never thought that any of it could apply to my life.
Then, thanks to of the magic of the internet and a lot of free time to focus on personal development, I was able to expose myself to another series of inspirational figures. Through iTunes U, a ground-breaking service provided by Apple, I was able to start listening to and even watching seminars and classes from the top universities in the world while I passed the nights in a rural Guatemalan village. One series that really captivated my attention was the Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs series from Stanford University. What this is, is a collection of lectures given by CEOs, entrepreneurs, and other successful figures from throughout the business world aimed at providing advice and examples for upcoming graduates to learn from.
This lecture series really got my wheels turning. So, I started to seek out more words of wisdom; commencement speeches from giants such as Steve Jobs, Tales of Passion from inspirational activists like Isabel Vallende, and even more biographies (from Frank Sinatra to Barrack Obama). Besides all of the entertainment and inspiration I derived from this there was another driving factor: I was looking for common threads. In the life stories and sage advice from these incredible success stories, from such diverse backgrounds, covering so many different fields of thought, action and interest, I started to notice a pattern. Over and over again they seemed to be talking about the same key sets of virtues and giving the same type of advice.
Could Mohandas Gandhi and Sam Walton possibly have anything in common? It turns out they both believed in a simplicity of life style and held a deep religious commitment – granted to different degrees and different religions. The important take-away, though, was that common keys to the success of both men were a fervent will power which allowed for great personal discipline and a strong belief in something. (The fact that their beliefs were in religious doctrines was not what was important. What was important, and what came up again and again, was an intense conviction in some idea; whether it be non-violent civil disobedience, the profit motive, women’s suffrage or the laws of physics.) This zeal for something larger than one’s self invariably seemed to manifest itself as a burning passion that could be found at the heart of all of these great success stories.
This is just one example of the long list of common virtues I began to find. The more I read, the more I listened to, the more awed and inspired I became. What really motivated me was that there seemed to be a basic recipe for greatness. Now, I in no means want to trivialize magnitude of the accomplishments of these individuals by reducing their success down to some cheap formula. Nor do I presume that I have all the answers, or even one of the answers; I don’t. Furthermore, I am not trying to propose any kind of “self-help” material. I don’t want this getting confused with The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. All I am saying is that it seems to me that there are a number of important traits, practices and beliefs that some of the most successful people in the world, from all different backgrounds and lines of work, have in common.
Going back to my original point, if this is indeed the case, would it not be beneficial to investigate the stories of these people in the hopes of shedding some light on the “secrets” to their success? And, if we can identify some of these core traits and virtues would it not then be advantageous to endeavor to incorporate them into our own lives?
I said at the beginning of this essay that I believe we do not spend enough time on the questions that are most important: “What kind of person do I want to be?”; “What core values will I adhere to as I strive to realize my life plans?” Then I proposed that it is possible to design and cultivate the answers we would like to have to these questions. My conclusion is that not only are there common denominators in the lives of the most successful people among us, but that by studying their stories we can learn from them and through a conscious effort assimilate these lesson into our own lives. This way, not only will we be able to answer the question “what do I want to be when I grow up?”, but also “what core values made my life a success?”
This is a working thesis and a work in progress. I plan to continue researching, developing, refining, reevaluating, and adjusting it until I can no longer find inspiration and pleasure in it. I share it with you in the hopes that you will contribute your own thoughts and ideas. Who has inspired you? What core values do you believe in? And why? My dream is to eventually turn this into a book, but for now I am content in the journey of exploration.
Here is a working list of the values, traits and practices I am considering:
- · Open-mindedness and a desire to learn about other peoples
- · A devout passion for a greater cause
- · A inclination to, and lack of fear of, taking risks and accepting challenges
- · A belief in continuous, life-long learning
- · The belief that your worth isn’t determined by your bottom line, but by the value you create for society at large – a love of innovation
- · A very strong will power, work ethic and a willingness to make sacrifices
- · Persistence, persistence, persistence
- · An extreme confidence in your abilities
- · A policy of always surrounding yourself with smart, stimulating, motivated people
- · A strong leadership style that places much importance on your listening skills
