by John Gray

Created on: October 07, 2007   Last Updated: June 14, 2009

Finding the true definition of success is entirely personal. One of the problems with the western world is that success is often determined solely upon financial markers, the pressure is that the definition can be as having more money than someone else. This is not real success, in many ways this is simply greed and snobbery.

It would be interesting to rephrase the title slightly for a moment, instead of "why some people cannot succeed" we replaced it with "why some people cannot be happy", then the answer would be of greater value.

Of course it is not as simple as this. Not all people value success in terms of financial gains. Others have goals or aims of a different kind, maybe the hunger for a desired career or an educational goal, the desire to travel. Unfortunately for some people whatever their vision of success is they will find it hard to achieve.

Some people can't cope with failure. Failure in many respects could be valued as a positive. Failure can mean that you learn from that experience and go on to be stronger and more prepared. In the same way that we can learn from our mistakes we can learn from our failures. People though all too often simply give up upon the first try. As Mohammed Ali said "it is hard to beat someone who never gives up", if people never give they are almost certain of reaching their goals.

Another reason why people don't succeed is that they simply don't work hard enough for it. They say they want something but get easily distracted by the things around them, success means to be dedicated, and people seldom are. If people enjoy doing something which is their goal, then surely if they embrace it fully, they stand a far better chance of achieving it.

Being realistic in your vision of your goals is essential. Many people would like to be the next international rock or pop star, or something of a similar nature. If people like performing why not aim just to make enough to be able to live on performing? That way they would be happy in doing something in which they enjoy, which sounds like a good life to me. All too often people aim far too high in the things in which they desire. Aiming high is good, but aiming too high is pure folly.

People blame bad luck for not achieving their goals in life. It is true that life is seldom fair, and that some people seem to be luckier than others, but there is more to success than luck. To be successful in a person's desired aims requires many other factors in which luck is only a small part.

Personality is also another factor in why people don't succeed. A person could be really good at what they do, but if they have a negative or unsupportive personality then they are not likely to go far in life. People have to get on well with other people and some people simply don't have the social skills necessary to achieve success. Nobody wants to help someone who is horrible to them in return.

In the end people have different views as to what constitutes success. People have different aims and goals. Some people simply don't have the characteristics in which to succeed. Success requires commitment and hard work, but we should be sure that our vision of success will make us happy. It is too easy to forget that happiness is surely the target shared by everyone on earth. To be healthy, happy and in the company of loved ones is true success, and to achieve this requires little.

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