Elements of Success

Celebrities residing in Hollywood are those who we as Americans care about, read about and talk about. We idolize our celebrities and look at their lives as being successful. Although I dearly want to be successful in life, I do not see success to necessarily be the life of a celebrity. Universally there are three elements of success which apply to all ideas of success: beauty, wealth, and power. However, the picture of success changes based on opinion because of the way in which we define the elements of beauty, wealth and power.
Hollywood’s illustration of beauty captures youth and sex appeal; conversely, I personally see beauty as health and moral integrity. With increasing commonality of Botox injections and plastic surgery, Hollywood stars are spending thousands of dollars to retain a sexy, youthful look. Women who are well into their fifties and older strive for sex appeal. Wrinkled faces are rarely seen on tabloids. It seems as though celebrities fall off the map when they are no longer young and beautiful. One is successful in Hollywood as long as one is beautiful. However, regardless of exposure to the media, I was brought up to believe that beauty comes from the inside, hence moral integrity and physical and mental health. A successful person does attain a certain aspect of beauty that encompasses ideals like self-respect and genuine goodwill towards others. One does not need to have a fashion model body type to be successful. One person that I think captures the beauty element of success is Eleanor Roosevelt. She does not meet the expectations of a Hollywood celebrity, but I think she is a beautifully successful person because she valued principles and worked hard for the betterment of others.
Another fundamental element of success is wealth, which can be defined multiple ways. Hollywood defines success in wealth as having a plethora of money and a collection of material objects. On the other hand, I define success in wealth as being first, financially comfortable and second an investment in friendships. As seen in the show “Cribs,” Hollywood stars flaunt their success of wealth by buying things. Whether it is ten cars, 3 houses or top dollar fashion, successful celebrities regularly look rich. In my opinion it is important for a successful person to have enough money so that he or she, and in some cases that person’s family, is comfortable. Financial comfort means having money to pay essential bills and a moderate amount of luxury. Nevertheless, if one has all the money in the world and no love or no friend, one is not successfully wealthy. To me, success requires more than the material aspect of wealth. When I am rich in friendships, I am wealthy.
The third and final universal element of success is power. In Hollywood, to be successfully powerful, you must have fame. Fame is key to all celebrities, because fame gives you power over other people. The voice of a celebrity is much more powerful and well heard than that of the average American citizen. Hollywood stars often have disturbing power over the law, such as when Paris Hilton was quickly released from jail after being arrested for driving under the intoxication of alcohol. I say power is being able to coherently contribute to one’s community whether it global, national, or local. To be successfully powerful, one must have the ability of self-mastery, which is the power to achieve personal goals through self-discipline and determination. I believe this is the most important element to success. Someone can have goals and dreams of success but unless they have the power inside themselves to reach their goals, they cannot be successful. Self-mastery also requires courage, which is imperative to success. Fame and courage are significantly different and yet both are seen to be the need to be successfully powerful.
Though the ideals of success remain universal, each of us sees success differently because of the different ways we define beauty, wealth and power. In the media Hollywood stars are said to be successful when they have youth, sex appeal, a surplus of money, and fame. When I think of a successful person I think of someone with the qualities of moral integrity, financial comfort, good relationships, and self-mastery. Whether Hollywood’s material centered idea of success is detrimental to our society, I do not know. I do however encourage everyone to define success for themselves and not take the cookie cutter version Hollywood portrays as the only way to make him or her happy.