Striving towards Excellence

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Let me share my perspective on redefining success and the tension between societal expectations and personal fulfillment:

I see this play out in my own circle constantly.  Take my college friend Michael, a gifted teacher who left education for investment banking because, as he put it, 'You can't be considered successful teaching for $45,000 a year"

Take my friend Satish Viswanathan, who  lives a life many would consider 'unconventional.' He left a six-figure Microsoft job to start an organization called 'Munnetram' to teach accounting to financially challenged kids in India. By society's typical measures - salary, status, career trajectory - he took a step backward. But when you see him working with his students, there's an unmistakable authenticity in his joy that no paycheck could match.

I have noticed this in a few family gatherings, where the first questions are always about promotions and purchases - 'Did you get that senior management position?' or 'When are you buying a second home?' It reminds me of how we've reduced life's scorecard to numbers in a bank account. Lot of times I have noticed calling someone 'a surgeon who makes a lot of money' rather than 'a surgeon who saves lives,' we've somehow made the paycheck more important than the purpose.

What's particularly striking is how our society's definition of success has become so narrowly focused on financial rewards. I've watched colleagues chase promotions they didn't want, to buy things they didn't need, to impress people they didn't care about. We've reduced 'successful' to mean simply 'well paid.'

Personally for me , the most inspiring examples I've seen are people like Satish  who've redefined success on their own terms. Like my cousin, Anand ((who is no more) who turned down a Senior Management Consultant role position to help underprivileged kids in a village.

Society might see above examples as lacking ambition, but his impact on others' lives is immeasurable.

The real wisdom I've found is in understanding that true success emerges from that mysterious chemistry of abilities, passion, hard work, and commitment. It's not something that can be measured by a bank statement or validated by others' approval. It's deeply personal and often looks different from what society expects.

 The most profound learning for me has been understanding that success is a very peculiar kind of noun.Unlike a chair or a tree, it doesn't have a fixed form. True courage isn't just in choosing an unconventional path, but in taking full ownership of how we define success for ourselves. It's about acknowledging that success is 'whatever we decide to call success' - and having the strength to stand by that definition even when it doesn't align with society's current fashion. This perspective has fundamentally changed how I view both success and failure. When I see someone living authentically, even if it means living modestly, I recognize a kind of success that's far more valuable than any external measure could capture.