Success is something we all try to achieve. No one wants to fail or fall short of succeeding, especially at something they truly love to do. For me, it’s biology. If I could, that is all I’d do, all day long. For Pat Riley, it seems to be coaching. For 24 years, Riley was an NBA coach whose record is nothing short of astonishing—1210 wins and only 694 losses, 3 time Coach of the Year and in the 1996-97 season, one of the NBA’s Ten Greatest Coaches, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008 (XML Team). Obviously, he’d be deemed very successful; yet on page 210 of Mindset, he is noted for saying that his success was the “disease of [him]” (Dweck, 2008). Riley was probably alluding to the fact that sometimes success can send someone one an ego trip, causing them to lose sight of what is really important. Often times, people “get the big head,” and fail because so.
In the case of this past Super Bowl, the “under dogs” (Packers) won over the Steelers. The Steelers were said to be a strong, more experienced team, yet they were beat. It is possible the Steelers went into the game with the fixed mindset, assuming they would win and not pushing themselves as hard; the Packers, with the growth mindset, learned from past mistakes and fought like it was nobody’s business to pull through, and they did. All in all, if you let success can become your worst enemy when you let it go to your head, and this is what Riley was saying.
Where Dweck implies success is all in the mindset and up to the person for the most part, Malcolm Gladwell says success is, basically, dependent upon chance and opportunities provided. How would he feel about success being a disease? Personally, I think he’d find offense to it. If we are given opportunities that can further our success, it would be an insult to call them a “disease;” yet, Gladwell seems to focus solely on attaining success rather than what can happen once it is earned. I tend to agree with Dweck in that success is what you make it, it doesn’t make you. You have to put work into becoming successful rather than it falling into your hands, and once you are considered successful, it’s just as hard to maintain the status as it was to get it. For Gladwell, it is all about becoming successful, and once you are, it stays.
No matter how wonderful it is at the time, if you let something get the best of you, in Riley’s case, success, it can destroy you as fast as it made you. Learning to balance is the key to maintaining your sanity. You have to stay grounded, but not diminish the achievement you worked so hard for. My mom always says, “You’re the only person you have to lay down with at night,” meaning, in the end, if I can truly be happy with myself, that is all that matters. It is not up to anyone but me do make peace with what I have done. If I let something get the best of me in a bad way, like letting success go to my head, she is the first person to remind me that I’m still human like everyone else. For Riley, I think he realized he was human, too.
Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers. New York City: Little, Brown and Company.
XML Team. Pat Riley NB & ABA basketball coaching record. Retrieved from basketball-refernce.com. website: http://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/rileypa01c.html
I really like a lot of the things you said in this post. I like how you discussed one keeping their sanity. That is definitely important in today's age since so many people put athletes and celebrities on pedestals. These people can get high opinions of themselves and something needs to keep them in check.
ReplyDeleteI like how you tied in several references. It added structure and support to your paper. The line "success is what you make it" in paragraph three reminded me of "Life's What You Make It" by Hannah Montana. lol. Although, the song may be kiddish, the message is true and is in accord with your paper.
ReplyDeleteThe last sentence of the second paragraph didn't make sense. The meaning of it did; the diction of it didn't.
I enjoyed how you referenced the super bowl and the difference in the team's mindsets. It really is amazing how many different things I can look at after reading mindset and say "Hey, so and so has a fixed mindset". To be perfectly honest, I'm kind of freaked out that reading that book had such an impact on the way I look at things.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I also totally agree about what you had mentioned about balance when it comes to success. It can be hard to maintain success once it is achieved without more hard work.
Ryan, you're completely right--they are put on pedestals.
ReplyDeleteHannah, haha. It doesn't make since. I left out a word.
Aikansh, I know! Everything can be categorized, can't it?