Being successful doesn’t always mean that fame is involved. Success is a spiritual practice of doing what you love regardless of outcome. Fame is an arbitrary reward not necessarily given to the most deserving. We look at success from different perspective and judge how it builds the characteristics to hit the level of success. To most people, success means achieving a goal. In order to achieve a goal, a person usually has to work hard and believe in himself. People, who are successful in one project, tend to be more successful in other projects.

This is because they get the feeling that their hard work pays off and that a goal is worth their time and effort. Success usually goes hand in hand with fame. Being successful means to be proud of your accomplishment and being able to use those skills that were built to make more differences or changes in their life or others. But sometimes social media digs into our easily persuaded mind that we need to become famous to be successful or become well known. In reality, success comes in different levels of accomplishment.

For example, getting a good grade on an assignment, graduating from high school or college, getting a degree, having a job in the specific career field, being recognize for talent and become famous, etc. In general success just brings happiness to one’s self for confidence in the ability to reach a short term or long term goal. But being successful can drag people to become famous. My first criterion is that fame in today’s society expresses something a whole other meaning besides success. Fame is like winning first prize in a cake-baking contest at the county fair.

The first prize is chosen by committee is based on subjective standards and reasoning standards and reasoning that could change next year depending on mood, trends, etc. People get caught up in the fairytale on how amazing being famous can be. Fame does tie into success, but it tends to overlap and becomes into one word and that has a different meaning. Fame has a different meaning in which people tend to forget to remember. It means to be known for what they have done, or be highly recognized for their achievement.

Currently, we see fame as being a singer, a rapper, an artist, a comedian, being the President of the United States, etc. In reality, sometimes we forget other true successors in today’s time. Many people that made a change in history don’t always get the applause they deserved because some say “it can always be argued that they did not try hard enough…” (Dalton 260). In contrast, the meaning of fame would be synonymous to success. We all know fame when we see it but perhaps we don’t recognize exactly what it is; rather, we just know that the famous are somehow just a little bit better or at least more interesting than the rest of us.

In essence, fame is that difference between us and them; defining that difference and learning their strategies and secrets is what this book is about. The famous are actors on the world stage; they’ve developed their role and they know their audience. Fame isn’t wealth, lots of people are rich but don’t have the power fame delivers, but many have discovered the path to wealth is much easier for the famous. In our opinion, although some critics consider the clarification of our society to be a dangerous cultural trend, we think they’re wrong.

We believe that fame, when used to benefit yourself and others in a positive manner, can be a good thing. Further, it provides entertainment in a sometimes troubling world, observing it in action is just plain fun and capturing it for us which are the most phenomenal experience anyone could ever enjoy. Our parents and teachers tell us that it takes hard work to become a big success; others speculate that some people are born with natural talents that assure a rise to the top of their field.

Mainstream marketing and media have effectively brainwashed our society into accepting a false, even potentially dangerous definition of success which is a “peculiar way of speaking and use of slang terms had been somewhat modified by [their] education... ” (Alger 246). Marketers want us to believe that having lots of money, living in a big house, and owning all of the latest cars, fashions, and technology is the key to happiness, and hence, success. This overstated, falsely advertised myth is hardly ever the case in real life.

True success requires respect, appreciation, integrity, and patience all of which are traits that by human nature are genuinely difficult to attain especially in the face of modern marketers who relentlessly deceive us, control our thoughts, and usurp our independence in order to increase their bottom line. Marketers want us to believe that living a selfish life, involving nothing but the pursuit of money and fame will bring success and happiness. Money is comparable to the often mentioned new toy fun while it is brand new and fresh, but terribly boring and unexciting after a few hours of play.

Money does make life easier, but it does not necessarily make it better. For example, money cannot make one knowledgeable or wise that only comes with hard work and committed study. And money cannot help one forge a long-term relationship with husband or wife that only comes through love, commitment, and sacrifice. All the money in the world cannot teach respect or courtesy that only comes with a good up-bringing and a strong concern for the feelings of others. Can money give one the gift of patience or leadership or appreciation or courage or friendship or even generosity?

All of these traits knowledge, wisdom, love, respect, patience are essential aspects of a successful person’s life. Money cannot assist in the attainment of any of these vital traits. Money merely detracts from the pursuit of success by providing distraction, temptation, and corruption. Therefore the marketer’s illegitimate claim that money is tantamount to success can be easily disproved. There is no elevator to success you have to take the stairs. In addition, volunteering time and energy to good causes, like helping the community, not only benefits others, but brings happiness and satisfaction.

Furthermore, learning how to act respectably and admirably in difficult situations can make life smoother by helping to avoid unnecessary conflicts and spark lifelong friendships. Moreover, learning patience and developing leadership skills can help one to gain a better understanding of life, make well-informed decisions, and form healthy opinions all of which are essential to becoming a successful person. At this point, a reader may be thinking “Wow! It takes all that to be truly successful? Maybe I’m not meant to be successful.”

Or this ‘success’ thing is just too much work. Is it worth it? Well, to answer these questions in brief: yes. It is not easy to become successful and hardly anyone is truly successful, but it is a noble goal to strive for. Just like everything else in life, becoming successful takes practice; no one becomes a success overnight. With courage and hope our society can forget the marketer’s inadequate definition of success and work to attain true success by modeling respect, appreciation, integrity, and patience the keys to happiness and success.