Success and failure can be a bit deceiving when viewed on the surface, can't it?

Let's take the illustration of the iceberg, of which you see only a small portion above water. Let's say 5% is visible above the water. That means that 95% is invisible.

It's kind of that way when it comes to the illusion of success.

A man appears to be successful. He has lots of money, nice cars, a beautiful woman at his side, influence and power at his place of employment.

Then you look beneath the surface and you see jealousy, discontent, always looking over his shoulder at work for fear someone will stab in the back and take his place.

And the beautiful woman? It's his mistress.

Not exactly the picture of success when you see the whole picture.

Now take a man who’s not wealthy nor famous, but has enough to provide for his family and pay the bills. He works a job he doesn’t necessarily love, but he’s content with it, he does it to the best of his abilities, and no one is gunning for it behind his back.

He's married, comes home to his wife every day (or lets her know if he's going out with his friends), and has a couple of healthy kids he enjoys spending time with and does his best to teach them what he understands to be the right way of living.

Each night he lays down and sleeps a good 7-8 hours, and wakes up feeling fresh and eager to live his life.

Of course, success and failure are highly subjective. Everyone has their own definition of it. 

My point is that Exhibit B, although he won’t be featured on the cover of Success Magazine anytime soon, is a success in his own right. 

Why is this? 

Because he’s content with what he has.

Exhibit A could very well be next in line to be on the cover of that magazine, with his $200 haircut, killer smile, and trophy wife at his side (the mistress sadly missed the cut for this one.)

But is he really successful?

Kind of a Prince and Pauper situation.

I mean, which of those would you really prefer to be?

A few years back I unearthed an old book called Success and Failure that talks about this very thing. It was just sitting there in the public domain collecting dust, and when I read it I knew it deserved a second hearing in the 21st Century.

The author is British, and it was written in the late Nineteenth Century, so the writing is an acquired taste. But the ideas and principles contained in it are timeless. 

I've prepared it for my readers and subscribers in audio format. It's one of several in my collection of free audiobooks. 

Give Success and Failure a listen, along with the others available. https://jamesdnewcomb.com/free-audiobooks/