Success as a Way of Life by Jordan

Success as a Way of Life by Jordan - February 2021 Scholarship Essay

Bill Walsh once said, “I directed our focus less to the prize of victory than to the process of improving — obsessing, perhaps, about the quality of our execution and the content of our thinking; that is, our actions and attitude. I knew if I did that, winning would take care of itself.” This is the definition of success in all matters as far as I understand it. Success is a continuous attitude and commitment to improvement. You can not control whether you are victorious, the only thing we can influence is the quality of our work. In order to do this, we must always be humble and eager to learn from those further down the road than us.

If we focus on doing what is right, the best way we can, it is fair to anticipate winning. Thomas Jefferson said, "I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it." If I can look back at my time in college with eyes that know that I did my best and put out maximum effort then I can look back with pride and my own satisfaction will be good enough for me. Some people are focused on results, however, I think it's more effective to become and embody the attributes of the kind of person we want to become, and the things that are in that kind of person's life will naturally follow.

I grew up helping my family work from a very young age to help make ends meet. They graciously taught me the value of hard work and how when you work to help yourself the universe tends to conspire more to help you as well. I have seen this ring true time and time again in my life, so one could say that my definition of success would be earnest work. Thus far, these principles have served me well.