Consideration of Success and Other Factors in the Meaning of Life

We as people think of life differently, and we vary thinking in ways to success. Today, you ask people how do they define life? Some think happiness is what life is all what is it about, and some see that life is all about success. The Book Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, is one of the greatest books that gives people purpose of life. According to Frankl “Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks, which it constantly sets for each individual”. (Frankl, P.98) Frankl. Our life is about responsibilities, however to find the meaning of life it requires to be willing to take responsibilities as an individual to complete the tasks and find a way to the right answers. Aiming to success is what most people do but achieving it requires grit, growth mindset, and habits of mind that motivate us to become successful.

First, Angela Duckworth defined grit as the disposition to pursue very long-term goals with passion and perseverance. And I want to emphasize the stamina quality of grit. Grit is sticking with things over the long term and then working very hard at it”. (Duckworth). In other words, grit is to be really interested in and willing to do whatever it takes achieve it. Grit to do what we love with passion to achieve the goal. The concept of grit is to know in advance which individual will be successful, (Duckworth). The concept is to motivate those individuals to success. No matter how much we suffer and face difficulties in life at one point, we think deeper to find the right ways to live with motivation to achieve success. Yet, grit requires mindset that leads to grit and success. In the article Significance of grit Duckworth believes that grit is effective because setting goals to achieve and working hard is the way to achieve our goal. “Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment.” (Frankl, P.135).

Success is not only about working hard, it’s also about choosing what we want to do and complete the tasks to achieve. Second, in the article “Brainology” psychologist Carol Dweck discovered growth mindset in decades of research on achievement and success. “The growth mindset is who have been negatively stereotyped — one that they respond to with renewed motivation and engagement.” (Dweck). Responding to motivation and engagement in life to become successful it’s required to learning from the mistakes we made, accept new challenges, and putting more effort to become smarter. Being positive is the most important part of life, no matter what we face from life. The positive way of thinking is the key to success because sometimes we think we will achieve a goal but we do not, however we have to stay positive because it wasn't about effort, it would be a mistake to become better. “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” (Frankl, P.65). Having the choice of doing the way we want to deal with any negative aspects in life. Dealing with it in positive manner, learning what mistakes we have made to focus on that part to help ourselves to become smarter and successful. According to Frankl, “Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation. You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you will feel and do about what happens to you. There.” (P.17).

Third, Habits of mind is defined as a way of approaching learning that are both intellectual practical according the article Habits of mind from the excerpt from framework for success in postsecondary writing. These habits are important to find the way we think as individual. For example, Curiosity is the desire to know more about the world. Openness the willingness to consider new ways of being and thinking in the world. Engagement is a sense of investment and involvement in learning. Creativity is the ability to use novel approaches for generating investigating and representing ideas. Persistence the ability to sustain interest in and attention to short and long term period. Responsibilities, is the ability to take ownership of one’s actions and understand the consequences of those actions for oneself and other. Flexibility is the ability to adapt to situations, expectations, or demands. Metacognition is the ability to reflect on one’s own thinking as well as on the individual and cultural processes and systems used to structure knowledge. These habits are the way of thinking. Each individual has a different way of developing to support us to become successful. In other words, these habits are to help us improve ourselves and learn the way we choose. Life controls us yet we control the way of our actions and the way of responding to situations to become successful. “A human being is not one thing among others; things determine each other, but man is ultimately self-determining. What he becomes - within the limits of endowment and environment he has made out of himself. In the concentration campus.” (Frankl, P.162). No matter what we do, to each individual would see it from a different perspective. However, each individual are responsible for their actions and having the potential. Taking responsibilities is a main part of ours lives, it gives us purpose and meaning of why we are living.

Finally, aiming to success requires grit, growth mindset, and habits of mind. Girt is what make people to find what makes them interested in, and willing to work with passion to become successful. Growth mindset is responding to what motivate us to engaging in life to become successful in a positive manner. Habits of mind are the way we find ways to think differently. Each individual have different habits different ways of thinking. Relating these three point the book Man’s Search for Meaning to motivate us to become successful in life. No matter how hard the situation is giving up is not the solution to it. These situations are the reason why we become stronger, and successful. The book has inspired me with how deep we have to think to understand the meaning of life. One of the best quotes in the book “ If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete” (Frankl, P.88). In other words, suffering teaches us not everything can be achieved, even though there must be something to each individual that make them suffer. It could be losing someone, not achieve a goal we wanted, we suffer because we work hard to accomplish the goal.