“Is it better to succeed at something you don’t really believe in, or is it better to fail at something you really do believe in?”
That is a question I put on my facebook account. Actually the question is not popping up directly on my mind. It’s part of a chapter on a book I read “What Should I do with My Life” by Po Bronson. I came across this book for sale less than Rp 100,000 at Ranch Market, and never opened the book until half a year later. This book about people who answered the ultimate question, and the author interviewed some people about their experiences across US.
Coming back to the question above. A friend said that it is dependent on how you define success. Whether you are the person who are more concerned about your principle, or the result. The caveat is whether to achieve the result, you should go into something that you do not believe in? Most people say that is the wrong way to go. I agree. If you achieve the result you want, but sacrificing your values doing that, you will not be happy at the end. A friend also said if you ask your family, they do not really care whether you achieve your result or not at the office. They just want you to be happy. It’s somewhat true. At some point in our life, you might get what you want in the first place, but not feeling happy because what you do is against your principles. And it will affect your family.
Some people also said success is defined by yourself, so is failure. So if you think you are a success, then you are. If you think you have failed, you are right too. Nobody can say someone is a failure, unless you let yourself feeling so.
Yet there are people who think at the end people has to be successful. I have been thinking about it too. I think many people want to do something different with their life, however they are afraid to do so, because it will put their family or love ones at risk if the endeavor is not successful. So failure at something you believe in becomes a pragmatic question – can you afford to do so? In companies, I see some people just going into a condition that will be a dead end (playing office politics, becoming yes man, doing something against their values) out of fear that they will be out of job and not being able to provide more to their family. It just does not worth it.
Anyway, I think there are thousands of answers about it. It is a classic question of journey vs destination. Which one is more important, the journey or the destination? My preference is journey. That’s explain why I almost never goes on arranged tour and buy Lonely Planet 🙂
Thanks friends who have give input.
May you have an interesting journey, not just a long life.