Story of Success, Part II

When I was reading Outliers last week, one of Gladwell’s points resonated with me on a personal level: “There is complexity, autonomy, and a relationship between effort and reward in doing creative work, and that’s worth more to most of us than money. Work that fulfills those three criteria is meaningful…Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning.”

He summed up perfectly something that I have realized about myself. I’m extremely goal-oriented and driven to succeed IF I believe what I’m striving for is meaningful, and I can clearly see a reward for my effort. Because of this, I do well with deadlines, and I’m drawn to creative tasks that allow me to generate a finished product. I enjoy projects like scrapbooking, editing photos, writing, planning dinner parties or events, baking, and organizing.

Speaking of the relationship between effort and reward, I’m still waiting for my LSAT results and trying not to fixate on the thought that my test is probably scored, sitting in a room somewhere. I can’t wait to know my results. One day when I was studying at a coffee shop, a man and his young sons asked if they could use one of the extra chairs at my table. I agreed, and then he asked what I was studying. I told him, and he turned to his sons and said, “Wow, she’s going to be a lawyer!” His enthusiasm caught me off guard, but as I sat there and continued to plow through Arguments, I realized that I want to be a lawyer more than I’ve really admitted to anyone. I know that the hard work would be more than worthwhile.