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The story of success malcolm gladwell essay about page 27 through 43
Gladwell's thesis about success
The story of success malcolm gladwell essay about page 27 through 43
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I was raised by my parents in a very rural community with my two older brothers, James and Daniel, and my younger sister, Fei. Not only did we grow up in a rough environment, we were also part of the lower echelon of society. My parents always told me, “You must work hard in school so you can be successful and have a high paying job.” In the book “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell, Malcolm explains that the biggest misconception about success is that we achieve it solely by our intelligence, ambition, hustle and hard work. We tend to ignore the fact that opportunity plays an incredible role on whether or not one is successful. Being at the right place, at the right time, is a key factor to success, but ultimately it depends …show more content…
They were forced to play eight hours a day, seven days a week. “We got better and more confidence. We couldn’t help it with all the experience playing all night long… We had to try even harder, put our heart and soul into it, to get ourselves over” (Gladwell, 49) The Beatles performed for 270 nights in about a year and a half which is extraordinary. Malcolm Gladwell says that it requires ten thousand hours until someone becomes a professional at what he or she is doing. Not only did The Beatles work hard every single night, they had ambition and passion for what they were doing. How can one achieve 10,000 hours without working hard and striving to succeed and be the best every single day? 10,000 hours can only be achieved if one is willing to put in the necessary hours of hard work and dedication. Once achieved, you will not only have 10,000 hours of hard work, sweat, and tears, you’ll be a professional in the field. The Beatles are a clear example of a group of people who were presented an opportunity and took advantage of it. What if the opportunity was presented but they were not ready to seize the opportunity? The Beatles went to Hamburg and performed their hearts out every single night, getting better day by day. With over a total of 10,000 hours of practice and hard work under their belt, The Beatles came to United States in 1964 and became one of the …show more content…
Instead of playing the victim role, she embraced the hardships that she was faced with and instead turned it into motivation and ambition. For example, Sonia Sotamayor was only eight years old when she was diagnosed with diabetes type I meaning she would need insulin shots every single day. “It then dawned on me: If I needed to have these shots every day for the rest of my life, the only way I’d survive was to do it myself.” Not only did she have diabetes, her father also died of heart problems because he was an alcoholic so she was raised by an only mother. Although being faced with all sorts of hardships, Sonia used these hardships as opportunities to flourish and better herself as an individual. “I probably learned more self-discipline from living with diabetes than I ever did from the Sisters of Charity.” (Sotomayor, 5) The opportunities that Sonia Sotamayor was faced with could’ve easily brought her down a very dark path which could’ve led to drugs and addictions. Instead, she worked hard and followed up on the opportunity
First, the challenge of diabetes. Sotomayor told Robert Barnes, of the Washington Post, “It drove me in a way that perhaps nothing else might have to accomplish as much as I could as early as possible.” What can be pulled from this quote is that she saw this disease not as something that would hold her back from her dreams but something that would drive her harder to her dreams. Sonia also told Barnes that she strived hard to reach her goals before age fifty because she was afraid she would die early. The drive of fear and determination really helped push Sonia to the finish line. Next, her cultural and social background. Sonia overcame this by working very hard: “Sotomayor bought grammar books and vocabulary texts and practiced each lunch hour at her summer job”(Barnes) He goes on to tell us that not only did Sotomayor get better at english and close the education gap but was awarded Princeton’s top academic prize. The video by Bio.com tells us that at school she was a quiet girl and was one of the smartest people in a school filled with smart people. Sonia worked really hard to conquer this adversity so she could go into law. Overall, Sonia Sotomayor has faced a lot of adversity in her lifetime but she has overcome it with great
In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell argues that there is no such thing as a self-made man, and that success is only the result of a person’s circumstances. However, throughout the novel Gladwell points out that your circumstances and opportunities only help you become successful if you are willing to take advantage of them and work hard. From a twelve year old living in the Bronx, to those who were born at just the right time to become millionaires, one thing is the same throughout; these people because successful because they seized the opportunities they were given. The advantages and opportunities that came from their circumstances would not be important if they had not grasped them. Every successful man is self made, because he has seized the
and it manifests itself in a multitude of cultural and social ways.” The author discussed the problems that occur from economic and social classes. The purpose of this argument is to debate on what kind of people will be successful in life. Everyone has a shot at being successful, and that they do with it is
Success can be defined as achieving multiple goals in your life, whether that’d be passing a final, making the dance team, losing weight, etc. You either achieve these goals, or eventually undergo a wild goose chase. Life is truly a journey in which you discover unknown traits about yourself. But can you become successful without prior knowledge of the world around. How drastic can the support from your parents or any help from others benefit your future and chances of being successful? In the book, The Outliers, Chapter 4 The Trouble with Geniuses, Part 2, Malcolm Gladwell addresses to the reader his claims on success and that the community you are exposed to is key. “It takes a country to raise a community.”- Clint Davis, meaning the child’s,
For generations, only certain people have achieved success - they are known as geniuses or outliers; however, they did not obtain it on high IQs and innate talents alone. In the book Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell, #1 bestselling author of The Tipping Point and Blink, reveals the transparent secret of success behind every genius that made it big. Intertwined with that, Gladwell builds a convincing implication that the story behind the success of all geniuses is that they were born at the right place, at the right time and took advantage of it. To convey the importance of the outlier’s fortunate circumstances to his readers, he expresses a respective, colloquial tone when examining their lives.
Even with certain qualities that that may make success more likely, it would be impossible for anyone to become a millionaire or a master of their craft without any hard work, even Gladwell states, “if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires.” (Gladwell, 151) This quote is not the entire truth and Gladwell himself recognized this by also stating, “Success is not a random act. It arises out of a predictable and powerful set of circumstances” (Gladwell, 155) Hard work and the power of the mind are merely the tip of the iceberg in a pattern of predisposed
The trials and tribulations that one goes through in their young life will shape them into someone who pushes through adversity or someone who breaks down and decides to quit. The struggles that Sonia Sotomayor went through in her book My Beloved World pushed her to fight when times got tough for her and her family. Sonia took everything that she could from what she had and she built on it in such a way that greatly helped her later in life. The success of Sonia Sotomayor is a result of a strong role model that helped her navigate life and learn and the hardships she endured at a young age that made her mature.
Some people may be born into a family with wealth, and that is acceptable. Some people on the other hand, are not born into a family with wealth, and that is acceptable too. The work that families have done to get to the level they are in, are just a cushion. People should try to build their own reputation or success. Even if people work toward their goals of success, it could take years to reach, it isn’t something that happens over night usually. The way they act or present themselves in certain circumstances will determine if they succeed or fail. As much as people want to control every step toward that, there are things that are out of everyone's control. Every action they do, every decision they make, they can not control everything. There are certain things that can put a halt toward success, things many do not see coming till it happens. Oedipus had no idea that he was the one causing the sickness that was spreading through his kingdom. He was doing well as a king, but certain things can change that. His curse put on him when he was younger, was out of his control. The priest reminds Oedipus of his success depict the sickness surrounding them, “You saved us from Sphinx…”(40). Success may be the one thing you can control, but at the same time have no idea what could come
Malcolm Gladwell’s overall purpose of Outliers: The Story of Success is that success is largely determined by an individual’s socioeconomic and sociocultural environment, and individual ambition, effort, or talent, are less significant, contrary to the societal notions associated with success. In other words, success is not something that someone randomly gained; success is earned through opportunities that develop dedication, interest, and skill over time. By doing this, will one become an outlier, or “something that is situated away or classed differently from a main or related body,” (Gladwell 3) that distinguishes great from good and best from great, as exemplified by “The striking thing about Ericsson’s study is that the and his colleagues couldn’t find any “naturals”, musicians who floated effortlessly to the top while practicing a fraction of the time their peers did.” (Gladwell 39) Gladwell also acknowledges societal norms such that “All of the fourteen men and woman on the list above had vision and talent,” (Gladwell 62-63) to assert hard work, ability, et cetera can lead to success, but a social environment that offers such opportunities immensely increases the likelihood of success.
Malcolm Gladwell insists throughout his book, Outliers: The Story of Success, that the recipe for achievement is not simply based on personal talents or innate abilities alone. Gladwell offers the uncommon idea that outliers largely depend upon “extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies” (Gladwell19). According to Gladwell, successful men and women are beneficiaries of relationships, occasions, places, and cultures. The author draws on a different case study in each chapter to support a particular argument concerning success. Despite his indifference and suppression in regards to counterarguments, Gladwell’s claims are effective for many reasons, including through the accounts of experts, tone and style of writing, and the technique he utilizes when opening a chapter.
If people work hard, focus, and are disciplined, they will succeed in the future. This has become a universal idea taught by parents, teachers, and peers. People have passed down this idea to the younger generations and they chose to live by this moral that makes sense. In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell debunks the universal idea that working hard will allow people to play hard and get further in life. Gladwell eliminates the traditional ideas of success by showing that opportunities, family background, and being born at the “right” time are actually what lead to success.
In Chapter 8 and 9 of Outliers: The Story of Success, Gladwell exams some of the ways that Asian and American students learn math, arguing that some of the principles in the US education system should be reconsidered. I generally agree with Gladwell’s point of view. I believe in two ways, students ' principal spirit and the length of students’ studying, the US education system leaves much to be desired, though an overhaul is in progress.
It's because of the contributions of lots of different people and lots of different circumstances, and that means we, as a society, have more control about who succeeds – and how many of us succeed – than we think.” (pg. 7-8. Reading Group Guide. After reading the entire book, I agree with Malcolm Gladwell when he says that culture, practice, and luck are the most important factors of success. In Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers, he analyzes the factors that contribute to high levels of success.
Success was hard for the Beatles started as the Quarrymen then turning into the Silver Beatles and touring through Germany playing long hours’ day and night at different clubs and venues. In fact, and article written by Andrew Romano from the Daily Beast states that one of Gladwell’s theory is revolved around Hamburg during their intense hours of playing. He states that after the Beatles had reached their point of fame during 1964, they had performed a total of twelve hundred times which Gladwell states” the idea that excellence at performing a complex task requires a minimal level of practice”. According to Gladwell this is what allowed them to become they greatest rock band of all time. Although this was Beatles point of greatness, once returning to Liverpool they still had a point to prove the world. After Brian Epstein spent many days convincing different labels, being rejected by the same record labels, changing their style, and cleaning up their act for the music industry, they were finally able to sign a label with United Kingdom’s leading music record company during May of 1962. By October of 1963, the Beatles had the opportunity to appear on the Sunday Night At the Long Palladium. During this time, if one was able to perform here you had reached a high point in the
At the tender age of 8 Sonia Sotomayor was diagnosed with diabetes type 1. Soon she learned to monitor her body and diet and learned how to inject herself insulin. She learned to live with the disease and expressed that she could have gotten another more serious condition, so she did not complain. Next, she shared with the public some of her mother’s history. She told about how her mother wanted