What is the meaning of success? Success means different things to different people. One person thinks that success is becoming the CEO of a company while another thinks that success is living to ninety years old. In general, however, people achieve success when they accomplish their own life goals. Most people go about their lives making choices and acting in ways which will lead them to success. Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Outliers, believes that choices by people do not influence their success in a big manner. Against popular opinion, he believes that a “self-made man” is imaginary; instead, circumstances, family background, and tolerance for hard work all contribute to success. Gladwell is correct that circumstances and family background
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Does it make sense that children copy their parents since they are the people who are most involved in the child’s life? If the parents act a way which makes them successful, their children will see the success and act that way too. An example of this in Outliers is the discussion of Joe Flom. His immigrant parents worked hard sewing clothes everyday and eventually became successful in the garment industry (Gladwell 154). Flom then learned that “if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires” because he saw it happen to his parents (Gladwell 151). Flom must thank his parents for allowing him to become a triumphant lawyer. Moreover, a child from a high class family experiences more success than a child from a low class family. The obvious reasons is that wealthy families provide money, connections, and special opportunities for their children. Most importantly, they gift time; the wealthy kids save time when they avoid getting minimum-waged jobs or stressing about money. Gladwell’s book includes a chapter which proves, using countless examples, that “ten thousand hours is the magic number of greatness” (41). In other words, people need to practice immensely to succeed. This fact further proves that wealthy offspring succeed more because they simply have more time to do school work or practice a sport. Hence, the influence and the wealth of a family have direct effects on the success of the
Does it make sense that children copy their parents since they are the people who are most involved in the child’s life? If the parents act a way which makes them successful, their children will see the success and act that way too. An example of this in Outliers is the discussion of Joe Flom. His immigrant parents worked hard sewing clothes everyday and eventually became successful in the garment industry (Gladwell 154). Flom then learned that “if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires” because he saw it happen to his parents (Gladwell 151). Flom must thank his parents for allowing him to become a triumphant lawyer. Moreover, a child from a high class family experiences more success than a child from a low class family. The obvious reasons is that wealthy families provide money, connections, and special opportunities for their children. Most importantly, they gift time; the wealthy kids save time when they avoid getting minimum-waged jobs or stressing about money. Gladwell’s book includes a chapter which proves, using countless examples, that “ten thousand hours is the magic number of greatness” (41). In other words, people need to practice immensely to succeed. This fact further proves that wealthy offspring succeed more because they simply have more time to do school work or practice a sport. Hence, the influence and the wealth of a family have direct effects on the success of the