Why the Science of Success Theory is Flawed
You have read about it in personal development books; you have heard about it at self improvement conferences; it is all over the blogsphere. It is the Science of Success Theory. In this article I give a verdict; I say that this theory is flawed and I give the reason why.
Follow me; this may be the “magic pill” that saves your sanity. (Of course, I know you know that they stopped manufacturing magic pills a long time ago) 
THE SCIENCE OF SUCCESS THEORY STATED
In its most crude form, the Science of Success Theory conveys the idea that if you and I do what the successful boys and girls do, we will get what the successful boys and girls get. The word “do” here is not only limited to physical action; it refers to all spectrum of endeavor.
In its subtle form, this theory says that there are certain “Principles” or “Universal Laws” which, when followed lead to the predictable conclusion – success. And that any person can follow these “Laws” and predictably get success as an effect because it is Law or Science.
This is where the flaw IS. There is nothing “Science” or “Law” about success of any sort. Not even life!! Life is a simple complex sweet mess!!
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT SCIENCE?
Without wasting time Googling thousands of pages, I will go with a simple definition given my Ernest Shurtleff Holmes in 1926, in his Science of Mind. He said, “Science is knowledge of facts built around a proven principle. All that we know about science is that certain things happen under certain conditions”
Got it?
What then do we know about a proven principle?
Simply put, it works all the time without alibis!! That’s not the case with success. It is a messy quest even for the most “successful” fellows around us!
In as much as certain actions may lead to “certain” known outcomes … that cannot be said to be a 100% every time “no if” probability.
It seems to me that Life by nature must include a grain of unpredictability in ALL its respects. This is not something to mourn about; it is something to celebrate because a predictable existence is NOT an experience and the whole reason we are here as conscious beings is to have an experience.
THE SCIENCE OF SUCCESS AND YOUR SANITY
Do you want success?
Congratulations, your desire is good and pure. But please understand that you will not succeed just because you follow a specific way which inevitably leads to success. No such way exists and no such way needs to exist for life to be complete. Life is complete as it is. In fact I will go on as to state that life is complete and exciting because of this grain of unpredictability that keeps you on your toes!!!
There are NO definite paths which lead to definite ends. The integrity of life and individuality dictate that no such ways exist. There is no step by step logical path to success.
But you can follow a way; what you just need to accept and understand is that you are not guaranteed of anything other than HAVING AN EXPERIENCE. The only thing you are guaranteed in life is HAVING AN EXPERIENCE; this is because that is the sole purpose of you being here as a CONSCIOUS BEING.
Don’t beat yourself down trying to find and follow *The* way; concern yourself with finding and following *a* way. Just be wise enough to know that what you are following is a way which only guarantees you “an experience” – nothing more nothing less.
A NEW WAY TO THINK ~ ART
In life as well as in business, the “new” way to think is ART. Live like an artist.
Artists are the most amazing people you will ever find; they are probably the people with the fewest rules or hang-ups concerning their skill. They seem to enjoy what they do; they are the least regulated by the “gate-keepers” and they just seem to go with the flow within.
Some are rich; many of them are poor but what is common about them is that they are lost in their passion. Theirs is to live and let live.
They strive for success with their passion but not by insisting on the specific way of sculpting a David out of a piece of wood which won’t just budge. They are flexible enough to chisel the same spoilt piece of wood into something else to marvel at; theirs is the pleasure of an artistic experience.
WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN FOR YOU AND ME?
Everything from daily life to career to just about everything!
For example, I desire to succeed in many things I do. That includes THIS blog! And I have made it very clear what that success is. It may include a lot of other consequential things but the gist of it is what I have stated here.
In the last few months, I have deliberately set out to read stories and testimonies of people I consider to be successful bloggers; people who have shared their stories of how they grew their blogs to where they are now. In those reports, they have given what I think is great and valuable insight and wisdom on how one can succeed as a blogger.
But theirs, just like everyone else’s are great works of ART NOT SCIENCE, and they must be taken as such. And the same is true of all aspects of life. That is what makes life good! Life is not in a straight line, it is a sweet simple complex mess!
There is more to it than we currently know ~ simply put, nothing ALWAYS works the way it is said it is supposed to work. When it doesn’t work, it’s probably not your fault; neither is it the fault of whatever IT is. It just IS.
ART vs. SCIENCE ~ WHAT SHOULD YOU CHOOSE?
It comes down to this: Learn the way, and then go find your way.
Living and Growing Consciously ~ Life, Passion, Simplicity.
PS. I would LOVE to hear from YOU. Kindly share your thoughts in the comments page which you can open by clicking the “comments” link in the top right corner of this post. Thank you.
Hi Christopher, I totally agree with you. Anything that involves the word “science”, “law”, or “universe” in personal development or self-help usually makes me skeptical of over hype.
Like you say, there isn’t “a” proven method that always works. You have to learn from it, but ultimately, you have to figure out your own way to get there instead of relying on what other people say. Great post man!
Hulbert,
Thanks for your comments!
It can’t get any simpler than you have said. You are absolutely right. The important thing is to be open to life and not be dogmatic with our approach even when it doesnt work for us.
Thanks
Hi Christopher you are so wrong and at the same time so right. Their is no one path to success, because success is not ultimate it’s dimensional.
And the path of one successful person will differ from of another in the details and content but their are some ground basics that must be recognise, such as being in it to win it .
You don’t always need to train to win a race but it can help
Good job great post
Hey, Lloyd!!
Haha
I really appreciate your comment! I love the part where you say “I am so wrong and at the same time so right”, talk about duality! Now i know why i was drafting that article about duality this morning.
I agree with you, we can’t run away from some “basics” about life. IF they serve us well, there is no reason for us to still be in denial about them.
Thanks man!
Much love
This post is very interesting and I’m still pushing it around in my head to get the complete sense of it as I write. I so agree with Lloyd. I have had very pure experiences of following a set of success ‘principles’ or ‘laws’ or ‘science’ which indeed led to achieving what I set out to achieve. And by the way, if you don’t wish to use these words what would you like use instead? ‘Experience’ is a little fuzzy to use don’t you think? It suggests an uncontrolled drifting through life rather than harness a proven set of principles to achieve a planned objective.
I am also an artist and whilst I love your hippy-like description of us I would also state that there are many artists who utilize very specific ways of approaching their art which is what often gets us labeled as ‘divas’. Whilst I live somewhat counterculture that does not make me take a slack or casual approach to my art. I have yet to see a (real) artist mix burning passion with flexible indifference in their approach to their artistry. Can you imagine Michelangelo giving up on the intricacies of the Sistine Chapel and just painting it red?
But this is why I’m sloshing your interesting post around like a wine tasting in the mouth. There is such duality to the subject that whilst I don’t disagree (especially with your penultimate sentence), there is another side to the argument that I have personally witnessed and personally experienced so I can’t fully agree.
Perhaps I will ponder on it more……
Oh and to answer your question I greedily choose both art and science because I am more concerned about results than semantics.
Hey, Rosie!
Thanks for your owesome comment!
I love the last part where you say “I greedily choose both art and science because I am more concerned about results than semantics”. I also love the fact that you have mentioned the word “Duality” ~ It is the inevitable part of existence.
As you have rightly put it…In the end, it all comes down to what the “semantics” mean to you and not exactly the words themselves. What is just important is to realise it is not always as it seems. That goes for “Science” and “Art”.
Thank you
[...] too long ago, I wrote a post entitled “Why the Science of Success Theory is Flawed”, and while I didn’t use the word “hype” in that post, you would not be far from the truth [...]
I enjoy playing “the infinite non-understandable game of life” (Wayne Dyer)
I may be way off topic here, because honestly I only skimmed the article. Anything too philosophical for me is… well, I guess I’d rather hear myself type and think than to put in the time to actually read what was written. Hmmm, I’d better look at that.
I think the best anyone can do is simply share their experience of how they’ve become “successful” in hopes that someone can use some of what they’ve heard. It’s like for years I had all these people telling me what it took to be successful in life, people I truly admired and trusted. Yet I still did nothing they told me; not until I became desperate enough.
Jared,
What we should do is what we know best; and what we know best is (as you have said) share what has worked for us and even what we have heard work for other people AND always open to the posibility that there is more to life than what we currently know.
Eventually, it is about following through on what resonates with us.