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REAL SUCCESS
The Real Meaning of Success Back to Little Dragons home page
There was once a young girl named Margaret who always wanted to be the best at everything she did. Her father suggested she should study martial arts and, because she wanted to be the best, she attended class twice a week and practiced every day. Whenever she could, she spent extra time working out or watching the other students. Sometimes she was afraid she was not making as much progress as she should be making. When she felt this way, she would ask her instructor if she was the best in the school. After he had watched her work out for a while, he always asked, "Are you doing the best you can do right now?" Occasionally, Margaret would say, "No," and ask to try again, but most days she would say, "Yes, this is the best I can do."
Her instructor taught all his students that their best effort is the most anyone can expect. If students give the best they have and practice regularly, they will achieve true success. He said it was more important to do your best than to watch how others around you are performing. He asked his students be aware of the feelings they experience when they practice. He said there is a big difference between how you feel when you know you are doing the best you can, and how you feel when you are just comparing yourself with someone else. When you do your best, you can expect to feel wonderful.
Years later, when Margaret was studying at the university, she was in a class with thirty other students all working hard to graduate with the highest possible marks. The other students kept looking around, comparing their work with one another. They wanted to be better than any of the other students. Margaret never paid attention to what the other students were doing. They were her friends, and she liked all of them, but she knew that her success was her own responsibility, and not affected by the others. She knew from her experience in the martial arts that it was more important to do her best than to worry about what someone else was doing.
When graduation time arrived, Margaret received an award for being an outstanding student. On her last day before leaving the university, her professor said to her, "Margaret, I have always been very impressed with your work. It isn't just that you have always been prepared, and have always completed your assignments before they were due; I am more impressed with how you motivate yourself. You do not concern yourself with others who are competing with you for honors and recognition. You seem to be judging yourself by a separate standard, and yet
you always do your best work."
Margaret thanked the professor, and thought back to what her instructor had taught her. She remembered it well. "The most important thing is to do the best you can possibly do. When you always do your best, you will not only feel great, but you will also reach your goals and achieve true success."
Questions for younger students:
1. What did Margaret ask her instructor about her progress?
2. What did he expect her to do?
3. Did Margaret take the instructor's advice?
4. How can you tell when you are doing your best?
Questions for older students:
1. How did the instructor define success?
2. Why wouldn't he compare Margaret's progress to the progress of others?
3. What did Margaret learn about motivation from this?
4. When can you use internal, positive motivation?
5. What successes have you had in motivating yourself to succeed?