Aspiration and Achievement

Achievements are directly connected to aspirations and we cannot discuss one without the other. We must understand this connection before we set out toward achievement.

Listing Achievements

When senior executives are asked to list out their achievements, they stop after a few minutes saying they have completed listing. When they are told that achievements are just accomplishments, and not excelling or winning or surpassing or outsmarting others, they seem surprised because they have always been told otherwise.

This is how our consciousness has been corroded by misinformation. Achieving a goal should be under our control. When goals are unrealistic (See Can we live without Goals?), our achievement of those goals becomes doubtful.

This is because those achievements are not completely under our control.

Controlling Achievements

For instance, winning a competition is dependent on not only our performance but also on the performance of others. When our goal is to win, we are expecting that others will somehow lose to us. As the others are also aiming to win, it becomes a difficult proposition.

In any competition, winning and losing is part of the game. If we choose to win, then our disappointment will be very large when we lose. As only one party can win, all other parties go with utter dissatisfaction. This is why unnecessary emotions are aroused whenever there is competition.

We can only control our efforts toward our goal but not the outcome.

What is an Achievement?

For some, like daily wagers, eating food every day is an achievement. For some others, like businesspeople, eating food on time is an achievement. Few others, who are dieting, would want to achieve by not eating anything. For some, going to school is an achievement, whereas for others, completing a degree is an achievement.

In short, achievement means fulfilling our needs and wants. However, the concept of achievement motivation has been misunderstood to mean the attainment of something important or spectacular. For instance, getting a rank in the examination is called an achievement, though for some students, just passing the examination itself is an achievement.

So, achievement depends on what the individual is willing to achieve and not what others want him/her to achieve.

Judging Achievement

What we need to learn is not to judge someone’s achievement, however big or small! The moment we judge, we ignore the limitations that the individual has faced. Our usual tendency will be to compare the best performer with the individual. Once the individual feels that s/he cannot match the best performer s/he stops trying.

Achievement is all-pervasive

Achievement is a universal psychological need with socio-cultural implications. When social pressures predominate this need, people become reluctant to pursue their interests. In such a case, achievements will have to be made compulsory, which we see now in schools. Physical training, sports, games, music, dance, swimming, etc., are imposed on children. In addition to achieving in academics, these children are expected to excel in other things, too.

Fear of Success is greater than Fear of Failure

The moment you succeed, expectations grow. People want you to succeed all the time. Any small failure is frowned upon. The moment you fail they decide that you have let them down. Even you feel guilty about that.

Initially, it may start with a fear of failure, but gradually, by watching other successful people lose out, the fear of success may creep in. Fear of success is also one of the reasons for digital or substance dependency among children.

Three kinds of situations

Situation 1: We try to achieve something, but we can’t.

Situation 2: We start towards one achievement and then suddenly take on another.

Situation 3: Even after achieving what we set out, we are dissatisfied.

The reason for all these three situations lies in our aspirations. People vary in their aspirations. Some aspire to further their career ambitions. Some aspire to construct or buy a house. Some aspire to buy a vehicle. Some aspire to just get a job.

Perceiving others’ aspirations

One person’s aspiration may appear to be small to another person’s aspiration. Someone’s aspiration may seem impossible to another person. But for the aspirers, their aspirations are very important and challenging. They are ready to take on any risks or hardships to fulfill their aspirations.

What is an Aspiration

In the case of needs and wants, we set goals. To achieve something, we formulate aspirations. An aspiration is a set of goals that is concurrently reached by the individual. The achievement of the aspiration leads to the fulfillment of several needs and wants.

Unrealistic Aspirations

While aspirations are necessary for achievements, unrealistic aspirations might lead to dangerous consequences. Aspiring for too much beyond our resources or capability might result in great loss. Hence, before aspiring, we should ensure that we are not over-confident.

Aspirations should come from within

Goals should never be borrowed. As one of my Mantra says:

“What we borrow belongs to others”

Others who fix our goals do not know either about our desires or our capabilities. They do it for other selfish purposes. You as a student can aspire to get a rank provided you are already scoring with distinction. You as a businessperson can aspire to become a billionaire if you are already making several million. You as an executive can aspire to hold the position of a CEO in case you are already contributing a lot to the organization.

Psychopathology?

Cases of depression, addiction, suicide, and homicide are mainly due to unrealistic aspirations. Rarely it is because of a lack of fulfillment of necessities. Instead of putting time, effort, and resources to achieve these improbable things, they could have worked on targeting realistic aspirations. However, nobody told them they could achieve positive things, too.

Confidence V/s. Diffidence

Confidence doesn’t work in emergencies. When you have to jump four feet, Jumping one inch lesser is not a failure but a disaster. Diffidence sometimes is a better option. When you have to jump four feet, jumping at least a few inches more is always safer.

Variety of Aspirers

Some people are motivated when their aspirations are high. Some others are motivated when aspirations are higher. A few people are motivated when aspirations are highest. But your motivational level has nothing to do with your achievement.

Higher Stakes

The only connection here is that some people become energetic when the stakes are higher. Other than that there is no guarantee that higher aspirations lead to greater achievement. The hype is created over one out of several thousand cases who have achieved greatness. But they don’t let us know whether the individual had such high aspirations.

Deciding upon Aspirations

Always fix up aspirations only after ascertaining on your own without depending upon others but taking suggestions from achievers. Your capability, your own experience, your past performance, your resources, your strengths, and your weaknesses should guide you toward setting a series of goals.

How do we achieve Goals?

As aspirations are a set of goals, we should systematically try to prioritize them before we take action. When achievements are dependent on aspirations, we should keep revising and modifying our aspirations periodically.  Several pointers for PlanningSuccess are provided elsewhere.

To summarize, people often come out with very few achievements when they are asked to list them. They are surprised to find out that achievements are mere accomplishments. Though the efforts towards achievement are under our control, success itself is not under our control. Achievement means to fulfill our needs and wants. We compare ourselves with others and judge ourselves on our achievements. Achievement is always there irrespective of whether it is small or big. Fear of success dominates fear of failure. Each person’s aspirations are different from others. We should learn to perceive others’ aspirations. Aspirations are a set of goals. Unrealistic aspirations lead us to psychopathology. So, aspirations are self-regulated with less confidence and diffidence. Some hope for higher stakes but a majority of the population is contented with smaller achievements. We should work out systematically to achieve our goals.

The following video also summarizes the connection between aspiration and achievement.

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