Often, social media as well as societal norms dictate what is considered successful or a failure. They may argue that achieving high grades, extreme popularity, abundant wealth, or high career ladder should be a sign of success. This is further exacerbated by criticisms and pressures from being a contrarian.However, one thing's for sure, YOU are the captain of your life and YOU could dictate to yourself what is considered successful to you. Try, Reflect, Adjust! Identify the "Whys" of your life and your core values. Rather live your life than follow everyone and die full of regrets.

Identify what you really want in life

"I’m going to do what I want to do. I’m going to be who I really am. I’m going to figure out what that is."

In the modern times up until now, it has been increasingly apparent on how people relentlessly strive for success, material wealth, and status. The problem with the modern rat race is how exhaustive it would be to meet one's financial needs and requirements. This means that it would require the 3 important resources — time, money, or even wealth — to feel and look successful.

The Modern Rat Race

"We live in a world where everything is expected to be immediate, but the things that matter the most take time to build."

"If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail."

"We buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like—and that is the foundation of the rat race."

However perfectly refined your plans may be, it doesn't compare to acting now. Yes, we may be tempted to plan perfectly because of our tendency to fear failure or someone might be watching us. But don't worry, you are the primary captain of your destiny, and no one knows you better more than yourself."Fortune favours the bold" is relevant in this scenario because of how many people achieved their dreams by being themselves and take bold risks despite the danger they may face ahead.If you might not know when to act, plan the fundamentals before acting and building up more advanced skills.

Act Now!

It was reported by Northeastern Global News (2024) on how our attention has been severely affected for the past couple decades, from 2 minutes and 30 seconds, to roughly 45 seconds. This shows how our mind could be easily distracted due to the emergence of short-form entertainment such as reels from social media. The convenience of the modern world has led to our tendency to go with instant gratification. Although civilizations have advanced, we tend to rely with our primitive instincts to focus on short-term gratification than those long-term but fulfilling achievements.

Shortened Attention Span and Instant Gratification

Before, people mostly buy their needs, however, it is in consideration that it was the time of scarcity. However, when the economy boomed and the advancement of technology accelerated, the consumerist culture began to prosper, leading to people buying products and service beside their needs.The rise of advertisements, especially evident today with personalized social media ads and influencers promoting these products and services leading them in buying products. This creates a problem of spending beyond their means, given that we are facing higher costs of living to even meet this lifestyle.

The Rising Consumerism and Lavishness

"It must be remembered that the purpose of education is not to fill the minds of students with facts... it is to teach them to think."

"Action is the foundational key to all success."

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

"A problem well-stated is a problem half-solved"

There are different learning problems that is currently impacting younger generations. First is how there are some students who limit their learning potential to academics. Although learning academics help in the overall societal development, the problem arises when rote memorization is employed rather than higher-order thinking, which is important for learning other skills. This in turn, becomes more unsustainable for both the individual and society.

Learning Problems in the 21st Century

Planning is an essential part for providing a framework and guide in setting your goals. However, you shouldn't just write broad plans such as "I will study tomorrow", rather specify the plan and divide it into microchunks so that it will make you think that it's easy to accomplish it, thus making it more sustainable. Yes it may look quite foolish, but the goal here is you're trying to set a habit, not to create a friction that discourages you from doing it. Plus, whenever you finish the goal, it gives you a sense of accomplishment.

Plan Simple!

Every time before we decide or act, we clearly identify our problems or goals. Why? Identifying your problems changes the captain of your life from the external environment — friends, family, genetics, luck — to your own. This means that through awareness, you become the captain of our destiny and through that, you could choose whether or not you remain the same, or change your course of action — from only surviving to living with a purpose in life.

Be aware of these problems

This is the phase where you continuously learn from the mistakes while applying your habits. That is why I've mentioned earlier that you couldn't plan perfectly as you are bound to experience unforeseen circumstances and mistakes. This is where you consistently improve your skills and refine your plans in accordance to your short-term and long-term goals. If you wanted to achieve the life that you aspire, learn as if you're a beginner, curious of everything, and commit to lifelong learning. All of these will help you not only survive but also thrive in the century filled with distractions.

Lifelong learning throughout your journey

This post explores and critiques the inclination of the contemporary world towards a dangerous path — the rat race — by which people competitively struggle and work hard to achieve "success" in the expense of their time, money, and health. Often, this path also pushes people to have no time for them to improve beyond their professional lives, leading to a moment of unfulfillment. Furthermore, the society's overhyped trends, Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), and the tendency to follow the crowd tends to lead to a false sense of identity.  

CHARLES KETTERING

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