The Anti-Success Movement

What is our problem with success?

Why, more than ever, is it a liability to be wealthy––particularly if you earned it?

Why do so many successful people feel the need to downplay and hide their achievements?

In the dojo it’s customary to show respect and deference to those who have earned the Black Belt and higher degrees. Those people represent, by example, that it is possible to master a difficult skill and to overcome internal and external challenges to achieve something meaningful.

People who have earned the Black Belt are also a tremendous resource. Many martial artists go on to become Sensei. They become a valuable resource as they help others achieve Black Belt and explore their full potential.

Instead of respect for highly successful people, we suspect them––of something!

Believe me, I’m not saying there aren’t crooks in positions of power in business and politics, but as with any other group of people, the crooks are the exception, not the rule.

Most successful people earn their success.

They earn their wealth and position through hard work, discipline, focus and perseverance.

Jealousy and trash talk doesn’t get you one small step closer to your own success. You become successful by studying successful people, seeking them out as mentors and by doing what they do.

The term Sensei literally means “one who went before.” You get to Black Belt by following the example and accepting the teaching of someone who already did it.

Success in the real world is no different.

For some weird reason, the anti-success fervor really ramps up every time presidential election cycle. Wealthy or successful candidates are vilified and challenged on every dollar they’ve ever made. It’s as if wealth is a disease rather than a worthy aspiration.

Who do you want leading the U.S. government––arguably one of the largest and most complex organizations on earth?

Do you want someone who has loused up everything they’ve done?

Do you want someone who has never been successful at anything?

Do you want someone who does nothing but bitch and moan about how unfair it is that other people seem to achieve what they have not?

Of course not! You want someone who knows how to achieve––someone who knows how to get things done!
Worse are the candidates that downplay their own accomplishments. Knock it off!

Be proud of your achievement. Be proud of your wealth––as long as you didn’t steal it!

Even worse than that are candidates and leaders who have achieved a great deal yet still spend their leadership capital commiserating with those who feel disenfranchised, left behind and locked out.

If you want to help people escape the cycle of poverty and underachievement––show them how you did it!

If you’ve come from nothing, you are an example of how to do it and your achievements serve as an inspiration for others. Be the “one who went before” and share the wealth; not by giving people the proverbial fish, but by actually teaching them to fish.

When you see someone who is successful you have a couple of simple choices: