Why Does the Measure of Success Keep Changing?

If the American Dream is constructed as an advertising campaign by which this country promotes "bigger is better" as that which offers a competitive edge, it is hardly surprising that the measure of success keeps changing.

Although people may try to deny it, the American Dream is ultimately something to be chased, but never quite found.

This discussion about why the measure of success keeps changing can be taken to deeper levels.

Rewards of the Challenge

In understanding why the measure of success keeps changing, think of the retroactive 1950s symbols of achievement of the supposedly tangible and unshakeable American Dream.

Did you watch President Eisenhower on your new television set that you brought home in your new car to your happy family?

These are proud possessions, until you realize that your neighbor has two television sets which he brought home in an even bigger car to his presumably happier family.

Part of the reason why the measure of success keeps changing, then, is because the challenge is the reward. People of this country are inclined to dislike quitters and those who are perceived as underachievers because they offer no competition, no opportunity to prove we are better than them.

The measure of success keeps changing because the measure isn't about having, it's about constantly striving.

Subjective Measures of Success

Even in the absence of a competition with other people, the measure of success can keep changing because people are continually defining what success means to them regarding their own lifestyle.

Earning a thousand dollars a month would seem like good money until a lifestyle is created where even more money is needed to sustain the same feeling of being successful.

The measure of success keeps changing because success is an addiction where the emotional measurement of it is in a state of constant modification.

The Achievements of Greatness

Lastly, returning now to the world of competition with others, the measure of success keeps changing because people want to associate their own lives with the achievements of historical "greatness."

If Thomas Edison, for example, found success with the light bulb on his 10,000th attempt, it becomes tempting for others to find gratification in their own accomplishments as they are based on extreme levels of difficulty.

The motto becomes: "I never gave up, although others did."

The measure of success keeps changing, in other words, because of the need to push the goal of success into harder realms, to prove an intrinsic value that is purposefully aligned with what others will admire.

Once the biggest fish is caught, for example, what is there left to do?

If the feeling of success is addictive, then new plateaus have to be created in order to equate success with struggle.

In sum, what conclusions can be drawn about why the measure of success keeps changing? Is chasing the American Dream a bad thing? Or does friendly competition, either with the neighbors or with oneself make life more fun?

Source: The American Dream

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream