📘 Part 3: Success

This episode's vocabulary

To have a bearing on something - to have an influence on something or a relationship to something.

Criterion (noun) - a standard by which you judge, decide about, or deal with something.

To assess (verb) - to judge or decide the amount, value, quality, or importance of something.

To encounter (verb) - to experience something, especially something unpleasant.

Severe (adj.) - causing very great pain, difficulty, worry, damage, etc.; very serious.

Headway (noun) - progress toward a goal.

To hail someone/something as something (phrasal verb) - to praise a person or an achievement by comparing them to someone or something very good.

Survival of the fittest (noun) - the principle that animals and plants suited to the conditions they live in are more likely to stay alive and produce other animals and plants than those that are not suited.

To exploit (verb) - to use something in a way that helps you.

To garner (verb) - to collect something, usually after much work or with difficulty.

Tremendous (adj.) - very great in amount or level, or extremely good.

Ultimately (adverb) - used to emphasize the most important fact in a situation.

To end up (phrasal verb) - to finally be in a particular place or situation.

Personal assistant (noun) - someone whose job is helping someone in a higher position, especially by writing letters, arranging meetings, and making phone calls.

Unbalanced (adj.) - a person who is unbalanced is mentally ill.

Wildly (adverb) - in an uncontrolled or extreme way.

Moderately (adverb) - in a way that is neither small nor large in size, amount, degree, or strength.

Well-off (adj.) - wealthy.

To thrive (verb) - to grow, develop, or be successful.

To kickstart (verb) - to make something start to happen or start to develop more quicklyю

To devote (verb) - to use a space, area, time, etc. for a particular purpose.

Screw-up (noun) - a situation in which you do something badly or make a big mistake.

Doubtless (adverb) - used to mean that you are certain that something will happen or is true.

Decisive (adj.) - able to make decisions quickly and confidently, or showing this quality.

Keep your head down (idiom) - to avoid trouble.

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Questions and Answers

M: How do people assess the success of others?

R: Well, the context in which the success has taken place probably has some bearing on that. In education, it's meeting some sort of criteria for success. But in business, it could be assessed in terms of impact or earnings.

M: How do you define success?

R: Progress toward the achievement of some kind of ideal or goal. So let's say the ideal is like getting 100% on an exam, and you get 90%, we could say someone is or has been quite successful in that respect. In other respects, especially if you encounter severe difficulties, any kind of headway could be hailed success.

M: What does it take to become successful?

R: Having the appropriate means to succeed in the context, it's a bit like survival of the fittest, you need to be best adapted to your environment, not always the biggest or the strongest. You could be strong and expend a huge amount of energy on something that's just wasted in the end. Whereas being clever enough to spot good opportunities and exploiting them with minimal effort would be much better in many cases.

M: Is being successful and making a lot of money the same thing?

R: Well, probably almost never to be honest. People who garner a tremendous amount of wealth for themselves are beset by problems related to the money they have. Like who to trust or how to keep it. Ultimately they end up being owned by their money rather than the other way around. It's probably better to have a modest level of success in different areas, rather than focusing only on money. Like having a family who loves you, or a life that you enjoy.

M: Does success depend on the ability to manage time effectively?

R: At least in part, or by surrounding yourself with people who can help manage your time, like good friends or a personal assistant. You have to know when to work and when to relax and take a step back. Otherwise, you end up being totally unbalanced.

M: Are successful people often lonely?

R: If you end up failing at life to the point where you're that lonely, have you really succeeded anyway? If you mean wildly financially successful people, then I would say the ones I've often met are. But moderately well-off people are not. And because of that they're truly thriving.

M: Why do some people achieve success faster?

R: Well, lots of reasons. Inherited wealth, like that of Paris Hilton and Donald Trump. I mean, obviously, they're very clever people. But I think some money to give them a kickstart definitely helped. Some people get very lucky and they're born beautiful and talented. And they exploit that to their limits, as with models and athletes, and some people absolutely cheat and lie their way to the top. Like with many politicians.

M: Do people learn the most from their mistakes?

R: If not their mistakes, then certainly those of others. That's why reading and listening are such important skills to develop. If you can access the voices and messages of other people, you gain their knowledge, learn from their mistakes, avoid them and save time and money to devote elsewhere. Reflecting on your own screw-ups also helps though. Doubtless, since it has immediate relevance to you.

M: What skills are important for success in a business?

R: Well, it's probably related to things that I've already said, like a willingness to listen and then be decisive when required. Generally, good organization and time management will also help you.

M: How do people achieve success at school?

R: Well, that depends on what they're trying to succeed at, to be honest with you. I mean, if it's academic success, then they work hard and they focus on the subject matter or the curricular area that they need to. It could just be basic survival, to be honest with you. They just try and get through the day and keep their head down. You can also succeed by being popular, so that way you're social, you're very cooperative and funny and you make people like you. So it really will entirely depend on what kind of success we're trying to focus on here.

M: And how do you think success will be measured in the future at school?

R: That will depend on the country that you're living in. I mean, if we look at Scotland then assessments are made based on literacy and numeracy, and your health and well-being. So those are the things that we've considered to be a priority. Other countries focus solely on academic results and don't really pay attention to well-being, they consider that something you deal with as a personal matter.

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Discussion

M: So, success. Which verbs do we have with success? So we achieve success, yeah? We... What do we do with success?

R: Well, if we change the word, we succeed, we succeed in something, we gain success, achieve success, attain success.

M: Attain, yeah, we attain success. And we are successful, obviously. Yeah? And when we assess the success of others, we can have some criteria for success. Mind you, criteria, a lot of criteria, one criterion. It's Latin. So it has these like strange forms. Some criteria for success. And in business, for example, it could be assessed, so success could be assessed in terms of impact or earnings. So impact on what? What impact did you mean?

R: If we talk about impact, then it's just how much of an effect it has. So let's say you, you want to make things more efficient, then you measure the efficiency and the impact that your change had on efficiency.

M: Yeah. And then you measure success, which is another synonym. Yeah? To assess the success of others or to measure success. So in business, for example, we measure the earnings. How much the business earns. And then this philosophical question, how do you define success? Define like, give a definition, explain what success is. Like how do you define happiness? How do you define love? What's the meaning of your life? Where do people come from? And then Rory told that progress towards the achievement of something.

R: So always progress toward something. And then when we talk about ideal, that would be the concept that you're aiming towards, or the highest form of the thing you're aiming for.

M: You can encounter severe difficulties. If you encounter something, you kind of meet something, you have, you see something. Difficulties, severe difficulties, like really, you know, like, super difficulties. Difficult difficulties. So you encounter severe difficulties, you have serious difficulties. And then, Rory, you said that any kind of headway could be hailed as success. So first of all, like could be hailed means that could be called, could be regarded as success?

R: Yeah. Well, or welcomed as success. It's like if something is hailed as something, it's like, a lot of people recognize it, or the response to it is very strong and positive.

M: And what's this headway? Any kind of headway could be hailed as success.

R: Any kind of progress. So you make progress, you make headway.

M: You are progressing. So success is any kind of progress. And then you can give an example. For example, if you prepare for exam, and then you take it and then you kind of pass it, you are successful. To become successful, you do need to have appropriate means to succeed.

R: But that just means you have to be able to, oh, you need to have the things that enable you to succeed.

M: And you mentioned you need to be best adapted to your environment. So you are adapted to the environment, the environment like where you live, what you have around you. Then you could be strong. And you can have a huge amount of energy on something. Like we, we have a lot of energy on this podcast. We invest a lot of energy on this podcast that's why we are successful. And you can mention like a person should be clever enough to spot good opportunities. To spot - like to notice good opportunities. Like it's a spot, a place. But to spot something is like to notice. And we exploit opportunities. So we use opportunities and this is like key features of being successful, to sport good opportunities and exploit them. Success and money, money and success. So you told us that they are different, yeah? Success with money are different.

R: They are. Yeah. But if we talk about making money, we can talk about garnering wealth, which is another way of saying making money. Or collecting money.

M: No, no, what's like garner? Wait, so garner is a very strange word. gardener. Where did you pick it up from?

R: Well, I couldn't say making money because that's just copying the question.

M: Yeah. So to paraphrase the question, Rory, used this sophisticated word. People who garner a tremendous amount of wealth. So could you give us another sentence with this garner word?

R: No.

M: Exactly, exactly. It's kind of like, it's very strange.

R: No, anytime you hear about people making money. Like there are many ways to garner wealth, you can open your own business, or you can open several businesses or you could become very talented at something and then use that talent or exploit that talent to gain access to wealth. So there you go. Many ways to garner wealth.

M: Isn't it okay? It's very formal. Garner.

R: No, I like it.

M: Oh, yeah. Like to garner, to get or earn something valuable, like respect, for example. Like Coppola garnered several Oscars for his movie, The Godfather, for example. Oh, boy. Yeah, dear listener, if you feel this word strange, just say, gain wealth. And then Rory used another word. So people who just gain a tremendous amount of wealth for themselves, are beset by problems related to the money.

R: So they're surrounded by problems. They have so many problems.

M: Yeah. Ultimately, like finally, they end up being owned by the money. So they end up or they wind up being, like lonely, or they end up being owned by the money. So it's a passive voice. So money owns them. Right? So for example, if money owns Rory, Rory is owned by the money. Okay, dear listener? Yeah? So not just like Rory owns money, Rory has money. But money has Rory, money has Rory's soul. It's better to have a modest level of success. So a modest level of success - just kind of to be modest.

R: Mid-level.

M: Yeah, mid-level. Really? You think so?

R: Yeah. Like, well imagine all of the people the, like celebrities that are extremely successful. But almost all of them have serious psychological problems.

M: Yeah.

R: And I think in part that's due to just being a celebrity, like the pressure must be tremendous. And on top of that, the effects of being worshipped by millions of people must be extremely corrosive to your personality. Like, celebrities, obviously, create a lot of money, but not many of them are very difficult to work with and, you know, have reputations as quite horrible people. So, you know, like, is that success, being able to be a horrible person to others? And, you know, have psychological problems?

M: Yeah, well, what's better to have psychological problems and to be poor or to have money and psychological problems?

R: Well, that's not a... That's a great choice, because you're still miserable regardless. Then it's not successful, is it? It's not success. I mean, you might have money, but you have nothing else, you're just still miserable. Whereas, you know...

M: Success is when you are happy, and with money. And with respect from other people.

R: Well, maybe not. I mean, like, really, you should probably have respect for yourself, it should come from within rather than from other people. Because if it comes from other people, then it's, it's very, like, it probably doesn't last very long. And also, then you are... There's a great quote by this woman. I think she's a professional witch, actually, on Instagram. And she is saying, like, the more you care about what other people think, the more you have made yourself their prisoner. And I think that's a great way of thinking about the role that the opinions of other people play in your life.

M: Yeah, dear listener, so just you should know that you are success. You are successful, no matter what other people think. You are a nice person, and just, you know, you shouldn't care what others think. Yeah, it's difficult sometimes. Managing time effectively could be one of the key features of success. And Rory told us, you should surround yourself with people who can help manage your time well, like a personal assistant, for example.

R: Yes. I think probably having a personal assistant is the best way of doing this, to be honest. If you're not very good at managing your time. Or buying a diary. If you're very, if you're cheap like me.

M: Yeah, dear listener, even if you will never have a personal assistant in your life, you can just say it. Just to answer the question, right? How to manage the time effectively? Well, successful people usually have a personal assistant who helps them and tells them when to work, when to relax, when to take a step back. To take a step back, like to relax from work. Otherwise, or if they don't take a step back, they can end up totally unbalanced. Unbalanced? There won't be any balance between life and work. Yes, so we are using a phrasal verb here. To end up, to end up being or just to end up totally unbalanced. And also, you've used it for the next answer. If you end up failing at life. I failed at life. Then you could be lonely.

R: Well, it's like my second favourite phrasal verb. End up, wind up. But either way, talking about the end result after something. If you end up that way, then have you really won?

M: And then you can say if you mean wildly financially successful people, I would say that... So they are lonely or they're not lonely. Like some people are moderately well off. So well off is another one for rich people, for wealthy people. Well-off people. Two words. Moderately, kind of like, not so much. So they're like, not super rich and not poor. And then moderately well-off people are not lonely, because they are truly thriving. Thriving is a nice verb. Thriving means like improving. Thriving. What else usually thrives? The economy of a country could thrive.

R: Animals.

M: Oh, animals, wow.

R: They can have a thriving population.

M: Oh, like yeah, like they grow, they develop, they are successful,

R: Or a thriving culture.

M: Or, for example, his business thrived. He's got a thriving business. So this is a C1 word. So an advanced word to use. Some people achieve success faster. Hmm. So some people, you know, it takes ages for certain people. But some people just... And they're successful. And here, Rory gave us some examples of Paris Hilton, for example, Donald Trump, who achieved success faster, because they are clever people.

R: But they had some money to give them a kickstart. A kickstart is like a big push in the right direction. So you have kickstarter companies, where they get the money, and then they go off with it and make more money. And this is the same idea.

M: And some people achieve success faster, because they are born beautiful and talented. And they exploit that to their limits. So they use it to the full. They exploit their talents to their limits. And then more examples, as with models and athletes. Athletes like sportsmen.

R: As with is another way of saying such as.

M: But some other people cheat and lie their way to the top. How do people achieve success faster? They cheat.

R: They cheat and lie, and steal.

M: And steal things, yeah.

R: I'm not giving any examples for that one, because it's a very politically sensitive thing. But I think we all know of people who have lied and cheated their way to the top.

M: Yeah, to lie their way to the top. Right? So to kind of, if a person is an ordinary worker, then they lie and they lie. And they kind of lie their way to the top, and they become director of this company, for example. Not to learn from your mistakes, you should access the voices and the messages of other people. And then you gain their knowledge. Like you get their knowledge, you gain their knowledge. And when you access the voices, did you mean just to listen to people?

R: Well, not just to listen but also to read, because people write books about their mistakes, and then you can learn from it that way by reading.

M: And then you should reflect on your own screw-ups. And to screw something up is a very, very informal phrasal verb. Another synonym could be mess something up. So kind of your mess ups. But when screw something up, you just really mess it up. Right? So you should reflect on your own mistakes, on your own screw-ups. In a successful business, you should have a willingness to listen. So your willingness to listen is like your wish to listen to other people. Right? I've got a willingness to succeed. And you should also be decisive, Rory told us, yeah? Like, make decisions quickly. So be decisive. Like, hey, let's do that. And when we talk about success at school, so what do I say, I succeeded, or people should succeed at something or in something?

R: Um, it really doesn't matter. There's probably a small difference in meaning, but we're talking about success here. So both are okay.

M: We talk about literacy. Can people write and read? Yeah? Literacy. And the assessment of something. So we assess success and the assessment of success. It depends on the certain criteria. How successful are you, Rory, from 1 to 10? One is not successful. 10 is like super, super successful. Like wildly successful.

R: I think a seven. I have just about everything I want in my life.

M: Okay, that's nice.

R: And I have my health. And my hair.

M: Hey! Look at you!

R: How successful do you think you are?

M: Oh, nah, not really.

R: No, Maria. No. We have this podcast, you have respect, power, and hair and fashion. Did I mention fashion?

M: Did you? Yeah, if you don't know what we're talking about, you can check out our YouTube videos. There we have fun with this fashion, fashion, more fashion, food, food, more food. Did I mention food? Yeah, this kind of thing. Thank you so much, dear listener! Thank you for being with us on this premium! We really need you to be here with us. And let's be successful altogether. So we're sharing our success with you. Okay? So we're sending successful vibes. Yeah. Excellent. We'll get back to you in our next episode! Bye!

R: Bye!

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