An Interesting Twist On Success Breeding Failure
While this comment may sound a little silly, it is true. I believe that people who are doing well are more likely to succeed and be satisfied with the successes they have achieved. However, those who are struggling will tend to do everything possible to ensure their failure and dissatisfaction with their current level of success. This creates a cycle of lower self-esteem in people who are constantly trying hard to overcome obstacles that keep drawing them back down into frustration and depression, which in turn creates even greater chances for failure among those already struggling at an increased level of difficulty or pressure. Those who are successful tend to be the most satisfied with their chosen paths in life.
For example, several years back I was fairly successful at some things related to writing and gaming. I had a clear path ahead of me and was excited to see what the future would hold...until it crumbled around me in a quick succession of failures and frustrations. Then, those failures inspired greater failures until the person that I thought I'd be came crashing down on itself. One failure after another was absolutely devastating for my psyche and led to an unending cycle of struggle, depression, and poor self-esteem.
I suppose it's much the same for many of our lives. Those with great success are more inclined to find satisfaction in it. Those who are failing will strive to fail at anything and everything possible in order to ensure their failure. Again, this creates a cycle of increased depression, perceived failure, and low self-esteem in those who have not succeeded at what they have set out to do.
Of course, there is a catch here: If a person is determined enough and works through their problems, then they can achieve success despite their struggles and frustrations. Otherwise, there is absolutely no chance of success for someone with a history of failure.
This brings up the question to me: If we were to stop struggling, would we succeed in doing so? Or do our struggles and frustrations make sure that we fail at anything and everything that we attempt? Or does it just matter how much struggle and uncertainty we are willing to face in order to achieve our goals? These are questions that I ask myself often when my own life hits rock bottom and I question my own ability to stand up and win against all the struggles thrown at me by fate.
I don't have any answers here. Only thoughts on this matter.
Thoughts? Thoughts on pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and overcoming struggles to stand tall and proud? Let me know in the comments below!
Thanks for reading,
-Loki-L1 _________________________________________ [ARTICLE END] Back to top. I've seen the term "bootstrap success" in business literature and personal publishing before. It's a bit of a loaded phrase, most likely due to its connotations of being self-made, not supported by others, or perhaps even achieving something against great odds. It also comes with a certain amount of challenge associated with it: one must build from scratch, or from something that isn't necessarily suitable for the task at hand. So if we examine this concept from a more positive angle, what kind of success could we hope for? Is it possible... to build your way up from failure if you are constrained by (or at least limited by) the failures of others?
There is a concept that I've noticed appearing in many different places in my life, and which involves this idea of "bootstrap success" - but it still sits on the fence between being completely right or completely horribly wrong. It's one that I would like to give a proper discussion on here because, firstly, I believe it's interesting and also because people might find it useful in their lives.
It's the theory of success breeding failure.
Now, this may sound a bit strange or even silly if you haven't picked up on it before - and believe me, it was quite a revelation to me when I first caught on to it. However, if you look at examples of people who have succeeded and are happy in life, but then turn around and use that newfound status to intentionally put themselves back into a position of struggle or failure; or at least something that feels like it might be failure. Then this concept has some merit to it. But we need a better word than "success" - let's call this something else instead: "pursuit".
So, how do we go about pursuing failure?
The basic idea is this: If you are looking to succeed or get somewhere in life, then by the very nature of what you're doing, you are also looking to fail. What I mean by this is that if you hope to succeed at one thing, then it would be impossible for you not to fail at something else. For example: if your goal is to become a published author in a certain genre then there's no way for it not to happen - because nobody can succeed in every field all by themselves. Similarly, if your goal is simply to make money doing what you love and live a life of luxury with no care for anyone else around you... then there's no way for it not to happen, because if you're thinking about that, then you'll be searching for a way to make it so your money only comes when people like you - and in doing so, that means you'll need to be able to get other people on your side and willing to support what you want. And if you want people who will do that for you... then you better make sure they don't have too many teeth.
"But what about all the people who are successful in life?" I hear some of you asking. "Why do they suddenly go out and make their success a part of their failure? Isn't that just encouraging them to become even more successful?"
Yes. No. Yes, it's encouraging them to become more successful. It's also not good for them at all. The reason that you see "success breeders" in the world is because they're not thinking of the entire picture. They want success so badly that they'll make it an integral part of a life where it has no right to be there in the first place, and then will work hard to make sure failure continues on and on and on, just as long as they allow it to do so! These people fail at everything they attempt.
Conclusion: If you want to succeed, then the first thing you need to realise is that you will fail. It's unavoidable.
So why does this matter?
Well for one, if we are already aiming for a position of failure or struggle, then it doesn't make much sense to be actively searching for ways to make it worse and/or work against yourself in order to struggle further - unless maybe you're trying to achieve something like getting people on your side. But even then, there are better ways than deliberately trying to fail over and over again.
Secondly though, if we're seeking success at something other than our own fault with our own failures...