Frivolous Conduct of Success: A Personal Narrative

I loathed hard-work, so I befriended leisure,
Only to realize that she gave me momentary pleasure,
I fell in love with Success, and wanted to make her my queen,
But she didn’t want me as so lazy I had been,
I made peace with hard work, only to win over Success, for a lifetime’s pleasure,
Once she was mine, I again courted leisure,
For days and nights, Success kept on grumbling,
And sometime soon, I saw myself fumbling,
When ‘Success’ was lured away by some other suitor,
With a promise to return back with Hard-work in the future!

We all know success; though very few of us have felt her and known her too well. She is like a frivolous seductress, who casts her loving glance at anyone and makes them her own slave. Seldom do we realize that success is just a mirage created by the loyal ‘Hard-work’, which compels each one of us to strive hard and create an irreplaceable impact on this world.

For those of you who do not understand this extreme form of personification, here’s a little story I’d like to share with you. Well, as I love to play the protagonist of any good story, lets’ say it is my own little ‘Success’ story.

Flashback: A bit about me

I was always an underperformer in school and college days, and developed an interest only for a few subjects. People often called me lazy, and I was quick to snap back,”I am not lazy, I am a master of energy conservation!” My teachers had no expectations from me, as I was just a couch potato and sometimes even the ‘mouse potato’ (I loved surfing the Internet and downloading the latest online games that I could play free).

Fortunately, I passed my school and college with average scores, which were far better than what I thought I deserved. Contrary to my pleasure-seeking and lazy disposition, my parents were both highly competitive and ambitious. Perhaps, I took my parents and their wealth too much for granted and never really felt the need to slog hard.

The beginning of my own struggle

Like all great entrepreneurs, my father was ingeniously discerning. He saw through my laid-back attitude and put his feet down in opposition to my sluggish attitude. He drove me out of my home and asked me to fend for myself. The beginning of my struggle was just like another personal account of successful people like Simon Cowell, Thomas Edison or Walt Disney. I always thought I had just one great talent: of good convincing powers. Sadly however, once my struggle began, and I realized it wasn’t like I could bank on those ‘supposed’ powers for a very long time.

Some of my struggles included limiting my meals to two square meals a day, drinking water directly of Singapore’s tap water, couch-surfing with a troublesome couple and being a local guide to foreigners. As I was brought up in a well-to-do family, doing such odd jobs was not just uncomfortable but also extremely embarrassing for me. I still remember the day when I cried myself to sleep on the night when my successful schoolmates discovered me washing a client’s car.

How I paved my way to success?

When I had enough of this lowly lifestyle, I decided to utilize my first-hand experience and interactions with different foreign tourists to work on a Visa consultancy firm. I had amassed enough knowledge about each country and empathized with their woes and difficulties too. I worked on myself and stepped towards my first respectable job. Soon I began rising and found my way to success.

Success however, frivolous as she is, left my company quite soon as the overwhelming feeling of accomplishment set inside my heart and mind. I remember being all dejected and upset when we faced our first financial crisis. We never let go of hope and soon I was working harder than ever to get back my financial stability and reputation of our company. My parents were quite proud of me, and I can see them beaming with joy and pride every time they see me. It is only then when I think, “I wasn’t really a white elephant after all.” I do indulge in pleasure and become lazy on some days. On such days however, I have someone really gorgeous to remind me of the frivolous conduct of success, and how I shouldn’t take her for granted!

I’ve learned some things in life the hard way, and I would love to impart them for free! Here are some facts that every college grad must know:

1. It is important to step outside the comfortable confines of your home if you wish to do something substantial in life. I believe every college graduate should devise means to fend for himself, and even relocate if possible. In case you are considering a move to Singapore, feel free to ask me anything regarding the Singapore Work Permit or the Singapore Visa. It is a great country, especially if you’re planning to start your own business
2. If you’ve seen the movie “The Secret”, or read the book, I don’t think you should take its teachings lightly. Make sure you believe in the power of your dreams, even if you think you aren’t doing anything great as of now. There is definitely the power of attraction in the world, and you will soon find yourself being pulled towards your own dreams. I was one dreamer, and I know how the power of positive thinking helped me attain success.
3. Your degree is no guarantee to procuring a high-paying job. Even if you have a degree with spectacular marks, it is not necessary that you shall get your dream job and ride high on your career graph. It is your skills and your presence of mind that determine your route to success.
4. Welcome to the world of politics! Politics do exist and sadly, they are worse than what is projected on television or mentioned in books. My sincere advice to you shall be to cover yourself and never let your skills and strengths out in the open. The same goes for your weaknesses, and it is best to never trust anyone in the professional world unless you’re totally sure.
5. Success isn’t forever — this was probably the biggest lesson I learned from my own life. If you get deviated by other worldly pleasures, success may just abandon you. Retain the magic of your success, and savor its sweetness for a longer time by sticking to your hard-working schedule.

I guess you got the summary of my little story right from the little poem I composed at the start. I believe it to be quite true in my case, so I would love to request each one of you not to let momentary pleasure, flattering compliments and success get to your head. If you can create the right opportunities for yourself, no one can stop you from scripting your own success story. Well, if you do, do not forget to share one with me too!

Article contributed by Peter Lee. Peter is a consultant associated with one-visa.com. He is a travel buff and an avid blogger, who likes to study the work and business cultures of different places.
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