Your Soul is Screaming; Shut-Up and Listen

Success build to Last

By

Jerry Porras, Stewart Emery, and  Mark Thompson

“Successful people told us that they’ve been given far fewer reasons to follow their dreams than reasons they should abandon them”(87).

                  There is always a reason not to succeed; those motivations are always much easier aluring than the alternative, dedicating one’s self to the trials and tribulations that crop up when attempting to earning true success. The tactic to withstanding the difficulties leading to success is a matter of finding the one or two reasons why that goal means so much to you and never leaving sight of those reasons. It is also a matter of holding on for dear life! Working towards your own personal form of success is additionally challenging because there are always other people who do not want you to succeed for one reason or another, reasonable or not. In order to achieve your own goals sometimes you have to put what you want before what others want whether it be for you or for themselves.

             In Porras’ Success Built to Last, they present four deviously ensnaring traps that can prevent you from following and/or achieving your goal(s). They are as follows:

·         “Trap #1: It’s Not Considered a Worthy Career”---- Society today is all about success (the five minute of fame kind) and it makes it very difficult to pursue certain goals, especially if they do not have overnight “success” in the very for-seeable future. In this trap you can also be your own worst enemy; it is an excuse which shields your worries about your own abilities (89).

·         “Trap #2: Bright Shiny Objects for Our Driveways, Resumes, and Ring Fingers”---- Much to my chagrin these things are what matter in the world. It really disturbs me that these “Bling” items and their obtain-ability or lack thereof is obsession for so many. There are only so many times you can fix a car. The more on your resume appears great, however, did you actually do those things for the right reasons, and with the deserved dedication? Is all that holds your relationship together your significant others salary? Should not the motivations that get you up in the morning drive a little deeper in to your heart (90)?

·         “Trap #3: The Seduction of Competence”---- We all want to please others; however, this can stifle our dreams and we end up living the dreams of other people. Some individuals might tell you that your idea is a bad one and propose one that they think is better. It may or may not be so, however, if you end up rejecting your dream for their approval then a part of you will eventually die. The text sums it up well, “Do you care more about being loved than being what you love?” Sometimes you just have to do something that only makes since to you. (94-95)

·         “Trap #4: The ‘Tyranny of the OR’”---- Either this or that; those are the only options which the majority of people believe they can consider. The general populous generally choose to proceed and only serve others. True, society would be in a bad way is this did not occur, but, why the OR? Why can we not say AND? Truth is we can. If you really follow your dreams they will typically, in some way, serve others while they cater to your personal needs; your souls silent scream. (101)