Why the road "of" instead of "to" success?

At the end of my junior year of high school, for the first time, I began to really reflect on how my life had been going and what I wanted it to be like in the future. It was then that I decided that there was no other choice but to be successful. I come from a lower middle class, single parent family who have faced many hard times. But I've also had some great people in my life who have helped shape my morals, values, and beliefs in such a way that I know I can accomplish anything I decide to do. That being the case, I have decided that I want to be the type of person who others look up to and respect. I want to possess all of the good qualities of the people who I admire and respect, and get rid of any of the undesirable qualities I may have developed. When people think of me, I want them to think of someone who is intelligent, honest, ambitious, persistent, respectful and respectable, reliable, trustworth, humorous, strong, courageous, empathetic, sincere, creative, generous, optimistic person who has the utmost integrity. 

In order to make that happen, I know that I must continously work on making myself just a little bit better each and every day. To that end, I have embarked on a quest for knowledge about everything that makes a person great, in order to one day become great myself. As long as I continue on that course, I will be on the road to becoming successful.

Now this road I'm on isn't the road to success, because if it were then I could get to the end and I'd be done. That's not what I want. Let me explain...

The way I see it, there many roads to success, but only one road of success. The roads to success are ones where if you work hard enough, you'll eventually arrive at your destination and be successful - at least in that part of your life. For example, if you are on the road to financial success, depending on how you define that, you can almost definitely get there as long as you do what you need to do to accumulate the amount of money you decide will mean you are financially successful. But then what? You have nowhere to go from there, because you've already reached the end of the road. Or if you want to be a success in your career, you can do what needs to be done in order to rise to the level you decide you need to be at to be considered a success. But then once again, you have reached the end of your road. There are countless examples of people who do determine that they are going to go down one or another road to success and when they get to the end and are successful, they will be happy and fulfilled...but when they do get to the end of the road and they are successful, it's not all they hoped it would be - they still feel like something is missing. That's because they were on the wrong road, they were on the road to success instead of being on the road of success.

See the road of success is different than the road to success. There are many roads to success, and they're all better than the roads that lead to failure. However, they all have one problem - that is that they all end and leave you wanting more. Plus, you have to wait until you get to the end until you feel like you are finally successful. The road of sucess is different because there is only one, and the minute you decide to start down it, you feel like you are a success. The road of success is the best road to be on because it doesn't have an end so you'll never get to the end and be dissappointed because you still want more. What's even better is that once you decide to start going down that road, since it is the road of success, you are already a success simply by being on that road and as you continue on it you will become more and more successful. 

The road of succes is also a lot bigger than any of the roads to success. It encompasses every area of your life rather than just one. It will lead you to be better in your job, your relationships, your finances, your spirituality, your intelligence, and every other aspect of your life! You will never reach the end, because there is no end! You can never be the best at everything, so you always have something to work towards and get better at! This is the only road that is worth driving down because it's the only one that will lead you to be the very best you can be in every area of your life...and that's why I decided that it's the one I am going to be on for the rest of my life.

There are only two reasons why most people who want to be successful choose not to go down one of the roads to success instead of the road of success. The first and most common is because they don't know the difference. That is unfortunate to say the least, and if you are in this group then at least now you know the difference! The second is because it's a lot tougher road to travel on. This can be illustrated by thinking of the roads to success as two lane country dirt roads that are kept up pretty well but still have a bunch of small rocks, some gouges and dips, and a few hills too. These rocks, dips, and hills represent the obstacles you face on your road to success. 

The road of success on the other hand is like an 8 lane highway with no speed limit. So you can go as fast as you want to go, and in any lane you choose. But...this highway isn't travelled by many people so it hasn't been kept up very well. It's filled with potholes, tree limbs, boulders, black ice, stalled cars, and railroad crossings. Also it is very hilly and goes over a few mountain ranges, has areas with lots of sharp twists and turns, goes through some tunnels with very dim lighting, has lots of on and off ramps, and even some detours that eventually lead you back but make you go out of the way for a while before you can get back on the highway. All of these make this road much tougher to travel on than the others. Sure you can go as fast as you want, but if you are recklessly speeding and you hit a pothole you could damage your vehicle. Or if you are going too fast and come to a sharp curve, you could run off the road altogether! Even if you are going a resonable speed, you'll still hit some of the potholes which will give you a little jolt. And when you come to mountains and tunnels, you'll have to slow down a little. Sometimes there might be a boulder or tree limb blocking the road s you'll have to take a detour that you weren't planning on - but if you just keep going then you'll eventually get back on the right road. 

As you travel down this road you'll see others giving up and getting off at one of the off ramps, and you'll see others who have decided to be successful getting on at one of the on ramps. There will be cars on the side of the road because they haven't given up, but they need to rest for a little while so they pulled over; or because they were going too fast, hit a pothole and damaged their vehicle so they had to stop and take some time to fix it; or because they weren't taking care of their vehicle like they should so it's stalled out and they too have to take some time to fix it before they can keep going.

Over the last couple of years I've been on this road of success and have already encountered many of the obstacles on it. But I've also noticed that it gets a little bit easier as time goes on. It's not easier because there are less obstacles, but because I have learned from the ones I have already encountered so I know how to avoid them. Also, as I read books, listen to audio books or seminars, and talk to others who I admire about how to be successful I get better at traveling on this road too. Sometimes I find out a little about what the road ahead of me is like so I'll know what to expect and can prepare better for it, and sometimes I'll find out what some of the obstacles I haven't faced yet look like or where they are so I'll know what to avoid and how to avoid them so I don't have to figure it all out for myself.  

In this blog, I will be writing about all of the things I encounter as I travel down the road of success. I'll write about the obstacles I face, the goals I have and reach, the things I learn, and my plans for the future.  So far since the day I made the decision to travel down this road I've been accepted to, attended, and graduated from the prestigious University of Notre Dame, completed the United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate School which is one of the most difficult basic training program of all the branches of the US military, married an amazing woman, and obtained a supervisory position in a leading solar company where I have much more responsibility than most people my age.  I am not bragging though, I'll be the first to admit that I've made many mistakes along the way. But I still consider myself to be successful because I am still on the road of success, I'm getting better every day, and I will continue to do so for the rest of my life.