Success is the Disease of Me: The Thoughts of Malcolm Gladwell

                The quote “Success is the disease of me,” actually comes from Dr. Dweck’s book Mindset.  You would not find this statement in any of Gladwell’s books.  If Gladwell were to see a statement such as this I am certain he would disagree.  Throughout his book Outliers, one point that clearly comes across numerous times is that in order to be happy in life you must be successful.  He definitely does not view success as a disease.  To him, success is the key to happiness.  This may not seem like a bad view, I mean of course everyone wants to be good at something and succeed in life.  However, to be successful in Gladwell’s view you must have a high ranked job and make a good sum of money.  Success to him equals wealth.  Throughout his book, all the “successful” people he discusses are extremely wealthy individuals, such as Bill Gates and Paul Allen founders of Microsoft and J.P. Morgan the founder of General Electric.  According to Gladwell, these three men are all in the top sixty wealthiest men worldwide, according to statistics from 2008.  But just because Gladwell says wealth equals success, is it really true?  Did these three men feel like they were some of the most successful in the world?

I cannot answer that question, but I do believe that there are many other things to consider when you look at what success really is.  Success should be when you are truly happy with where you are in life, whether that be having the job of your dreams or settling down and raising your family.  As long as you are happy with your life and feel that you have lived it to the best of your ability, then I believe you can say you have been successful.  So just keep in mind money isn’t everything and despite Gladwell’s view, you can be successful and completely happy with your life even if you are not a multimillionaire or a major company’s CEO.

Me? A Natural?

All throughout my life I seem to have encountered “naturals” at one thing or another that I have tried to do.  There has always been that one person in my class who just seemed to understand every topic that was brought up right away, without needing it explained.  Then there always was that one person who just picked up a basketball and completely excelled on the court.  I never had such luck.  I have always had to study to do well in my classes and practice extra hard to make it in the sports world.  At times, this really used to frustrate me.  Why should that person be able to be an “expert” without having to put forth much, if any, effort?  How is it fair that he or she gets a pass through life without having to work for it?

However, looking back, I have noticed that those who were viewed as “naturals” were also the ones who had the most pressure on them.  They were expected to always do well because they were the “naturals”.  People seemed to think if you were a “natural” at something then you should always flourish.  They were always expected to make the A’s on tests and make every shot in their basketball games.  They were not supposed to fail and most “naturals” let this popular view affect their views of themselves as well.  If they did happen to get a bad grade on a test or miss a needed basket, they would become more frustrated or upset with themselves and really struggle with accepting that they did mess up and that it is okay.  They would begin doubting their selves and would have trouble moving forward.  They would view themselves as a failure and would most likely give up rather than try to do better on the next test or play harder in the next game.  They were stuck in what Dweck would call the fixed mind set.

As I have gotten older, I have realized that I am glad to not have been a “natural”.  By having to work to achieve what I want, I appreciate it a lot more.  Having to work toward my goals has taught me patience and perseverance.  I have learned that by working to do better at something, you can always improve.  The saying “You only get out of life what you put in,” is definitely true.  The more effort and practice you put into doing something, the better you will become at it.  The more you study the better you will do on your tests.  The more you practice your shot, the greater chance you have of making a basket.  However, you also have to realize, you will mess up from time to time and you have to use those incidents as opportunities to improve.  You have to realize in those cases that you can always practice more and no matter how good you may be, you can always do better.  So actually I consider myself pretty lucky to not be a “natural” at something.

Michael Jordan: Superstar or Super Failure? (Edited)

How I titled this assignment may confuse some people, because in most people’s eyes Michael Jordan is one of the best, if not the best, basketball players of all time.  But in his commercial, he discusses how he has failed again and again.  He states “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life…”  When you look at these statistics, he may not seem like much of a superstar.  However, what makes him a true superstar is the fact that he takes these failures as a challenge to work harder and improve.  He acknowledges that his failures have made him grow and in turn have made him the successful legend he is known to be.  By being able to turn failure into success shows that he has the growth mindset that Dweck discusses in her book.

I believe the reason Jordan said pointed out his numerous failures in the commercial and used the specific scenery he did was to show that someone can go from being viewed as one of the best of all times and having cameras flashing and people fawning over him to being just another person walking by.  By being able to not let the failures or others reactions get you down, but instead using those as a reason to further persevere, is what truly makes a person successful.  That is what I believe Michael Jordan was hoping to get across to his audience in this commercial.

What is Marita's Bargain?

Marita's Bargain is about a child who, when she was in just the fourth grade, was given a life altering opportunity. She was given the chance to get a good...no a great education. She applied to KIPP Academy, which is a prestigious school that accepts its applicants at random. Marita was accepted and her life radically changed. She began waking up at 5:45 a.m. and would be at school until 5 p.m. Upon arriving home, she would have multiple hours of homework that would keep her busy until 9 or 10 at night.


What makes this story incredible is not just the fact that Marita is able to handle this work load, but her attitude toward it. When asked about her amount of homework she states that “having a lot of homework helps us do better in class.” How many kids do you know that have that outlook on work? I’m guessing not very many.

Marita views her schooling and the immense amount of work she must do for it, as an opportunity to make something of herself and create a good life when she gets older. She doesn’t complain or ask to go to another school. She acknowledges that this is what she needs to do for her to succeed. So for her, it truly is a bargain because she is gaining a great education and setting herself up for a better life than what she may have had had she not been accepted into KIPP Academy.