Ingredients for success

[Befuddled]

So I was recently pondering over why some students in my school who are exceptionally intelligent underscored...

It sparked me that perhaps things like:

- motivation

- humbleness 

- attentiveness

etc., are necessary. What are some things you guys believe result in success?

[mac117]

I personally think it all depends on your definition of success - for every person thing differs quite considerably. For someone getting a 35 would be an absolute disaster, whereas for someone else it'd be a dream come true. As each person has different standards and expectations of themselves it would be hard to quantify success and very specific characteristics that attribute it. I don't think grades themselves can really determine it.

Though I do have to agree with the things you've written down. Most of the successful people are know tend to be very determined. In almost every case hard work beats talent, hard. There was a girl I knew who was constantly getting 3s and 4s in maths HL, whereas my other friend got 6s without much work. At the end of the year, this girl ended up with a 5 and my friend with a 4 simply because she worked hard for her grade, unlike my friend who thought League of Legends was a better way of spending time  

Motivation is a large factor, too. Personally, I have struggled to stay motivated every since my final exams finished over a week ago. I put so much effort into the week of exams that afterwards I was unable to sit anywhere near my biology book. It might have been over-motivation on my side, as I wanted to get the best grade possible everywhere, which was quite silly. The following week I was super sluggish, and found it difficult to concentrate on the content of the lesson as I was really tired and only really wanted to sleep. It's important to find balance between work and leisure, which is something I realised way too late. Successful people definitely are very good at balancing stress/workload. 

This topic is kind of like a river in my opinion; one could go on and on and never really finish and do it justice. Creativity, willingness to help others (being a leader rather than a boss), and, to some extent, the ability to prioritise definitely help in achieving success. 

Edit: Ah, almost forgot! Successful people definitely don't dwell on small failures, but much rather on the big picture and the final product. Getting a 4 isn't the end of the world in IB, and one rejection from university doesn't mean much in the big picture that is life

[Befuddled]

13 hours ago, mac117 said:

I personally think it all depends on your definition of success - for every person thing differs quite considerably. For someone getting a 35 would be an absolute disaster, whereas for someone else it'd be a dream come true. As each person has different standards and expectations of themselves it would be hard to quantify success and very specific characteristics that attribute it. I don't think grades themselves can really determine it.

Though I do have to agree with the things you've written down. Most of the successful people are know tend to be very determined. In almost every case hard work beats talent, hard. There was a girl I knew who was constantly getting 3s and 4s in maths HL, whereas my other friend got 6s without much work. At the end of the year, this girl ended up with a 5 and my friend with a 4 simply because she worked hard for her grade, unlike my friend who thought League of Legends was a better way of spending time  

Motivation is a large factor, too. Personally, I have struggled to stay motivated every since my final exams finished over a week ago. I put so much effort into the week of exams that afterwards I was unable to sit anywhere near my biology book. It might have been over-motivation on my side, as I wanted to get the best grade possible everywhere, which was quite silly. The following week I was super sluggish, and found it difficult to concentrate on the content of the lesson as I was really tired and only really wanted to sleep. It's important to find balance between work and leisure, which is something I realised way too late. Successful people definitely are very good at balancing stress/workload. 

This topic is kind of like a river in my opinion; one could go on and on and never really finish and do it justice. Creativity, willingness to help others (being a leader rather than a boss), and, to some extent, the ability to prioritise definitely help in achieving success. 

Edit: Ah, almost forgot! Successful people definitely don't dwell on small failures, but much rather on the big picture and the final product. Getting a 4 isn't the end of the world in IB, and one rejection from university doesn't mean much in the big picture that is life

That has definitely motivated me to get on with my EE! 

Love all of your thoughts