Go for Just Enough

Is being really successful inevitably a matter of being the best,highest,youngest,richest,smartest and prettiest on every scale you know that is,celebrity winner-take-all Such standards are maximised forms of accomplishment.Simply put,maximisation is any form of going for the extreme: genius intelligence,superhuman effort,the best house,the unique lifestyle,and the most profit possible But even if you are drawn to the positive aspects of maximisation as your standard,most peoples sense of success demands high scores in many differing categories.Sometimes,these goals contradict each other: wealth and best friends who love you for yourself,not your money.A generous nature and being in the top position.Leading a team and being able to do everything your way.Before you anchor your ambitions on the outer limits,think of the Roman and British empires.Rome continually pushed its borders in a political philosophy of limitless power only to discover it had to build a wall to keep the invaders out before it could really build and protect its roads.The British set up a legal and bureaucratic system in each of its colonial territories,but the idea of limitless exploitation became the empires undoing.If you wish to live with a continually-renewing sense of success you have to give up the standards of maximization.

By LAURA NASH

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