Success: Does Success Depend On Who You Know Or What You Know?

In the modern day world, education is seen as an important part of becoming successful and as a means of increasing ones quality of life. And so getting the right qualifications or the right training for instance is therefore imperative when it comes to making progress.

This sounds logical and can make more sense than not educating oneself and trying to progress in life that way. If one knows what they are talking about and has the skills required to do a certain task or to create something for example, then surely that will enable one to achieve their desired outcome.

Another Outlook

Although this is something that many people adhere to and see as the key to success, there is another outlook that people can have. Here, it is not so much about what someone knows, it is more about who someone knows.

Ones focus is then not on simply becoming good at something, it is also placed on getting in contact with the right people. This is not to say that people with this outlook are therefore uneducated, it means that they understand how important people are.

An Analogy

One way of looking at this is to imagine a flower that is in full bloom; while the flower is incredible to look at and the smells it produces may amaze ones senses, if no one is around to see it, it won’t be appreciated.

This is nothing personal and has nothing to do with the flower itself; the world doesn’t have a hidden agenda to ignore the flower; it is simply that no one knows that the flower exists. The flower is not going to be phased by this and will still express its magnificence either way.

Exposure

But while a flower can still grow and express itself without human exposure, the same can’t be said for humans. In order for human beings to increase their level of growth and success, they will need the assistance of others.

And although not everyone is going to warm to what one does and how they do it, they still need other people to move forward in life. Just because they are good at something, if the right person or people are unaware of it, they are not going to get very far.

Impersonal

This reflects what it is like for the flower and how this is not personal. People out there are going to appreciate what one does and the value they bring to the world, but unless they are aware of what one does, it won’t be possible for them to do this.

When one is not making progress and being appreciated for what they do, it can be easy to take things to heart. And to end up believing that other people are not interested and that one won’t get anywhere.

Relationships

If one had two people in front of them, one person was a close friend of theirs and the other was a ‘stranger, it doesn’t take much to realise that one would do more for their friend than they would for the other person.

Their friend is someone they not only like and appreciate, but also someone they can trust. However, the other person is not someone they know much about. This doesn’t mean that the same connection is unable to be formed with the other person, but that it hasn’t been formed yet.

The same applies to success; the people that are elevated haven’t necessarily got something that one has got, but what they have developed are connections with the right people.

Being The Best

It can be normal to assume that one being the best is vital when it comes to being successful. But this outlook is soon destroyed when one comes across people who are great at what they do and yet haven’t progressed very far.

One could be very good at what they do, but if the right people don’t see them, it won’t matter. And someone could be fairly average at what they do, but if the right person or people come across what they do, they could soon rise to the top.

Also, what is classed as greatness and what is not, is subjective and what one person classes as the best, might not be looked at in the same way by another person. So one could be noticed by someone who has a lot of influence in a certain area and their life soon changes; regardless of how good they are in the eyes of others.

What You Know Or Who You know?

To think that one can become a success without knowing anything or having any kind of ability might be bit naive. And yet, if one was to think that knowing the right things or becoming really good at something is the answer, they are not going to be in a much better position.

This shows how important relationships are, and making sure that one reaches out to the right people and ends up in right places. Having the drive and the commitment will also allow one to keep going when nothing appears to be happening externally. As is having the belief that one does matters; even though it might not always appear that way.