Human Darwinism: Human Trait that Determines More Success

Sitting down on a bench in Shoreline Park of Santa Barbara I observed a flock of doves patrolling the area for a chance that I may drop some of the bagel I was eating. As an experiment I decided to toss them a piece, and all of them raced against each other to get that one piece. They behaved in barbarous manner where the biggest of them attacked the dove that got the piece first, causing it to drop the piece of bagel and the big one to snatch it. The others just stood by watching the big one consume the only piece I had given to all of them.

To me this was a clear demonstration of Darwin's survival of the fittest. I began to think, does this phenomena still play out for humans? Do we still battle each other out to ensure survival? Well at least in the US most Americans for the most part no longer fight for survival. Most of us already have a comfortable shelter and abundant amount food. So survival is no longer an issue. Yet we still in a sense have a "survival of the fittest" battle royal for status and power. The biggest factor that determines status and power is money. So we work hard to obtain a sizable bank account, some us obsessively trying to level up to the big shots. This model system is what we call, capitalism.

Now, I don't have the knowledge nor the credentials to talk about the moral issues that arises from this system and this is not what I'm writing about. I'd like to talk about the completely different playing field we are involve with than the doves. What characteristics, for us humans, would determine the "survival of the fittest"? What characteristics would separate the big dominant doves from the many smaller less dominant doves?

You may guess education, or rich family ties, or resources. Although they seem like a valid answer they however have a variety of different flaws that does not fit with some of the richest men in the world. Larry Ellison for example, the founder of oracle, started his multi billion dollar company with non of those three. Ellison did not go to college and grew up poor. Yet still Larry Ellison built a gigantic company. So what is it that makes people like Larry Ellison so adaptable when it comes to making money? What is it that enabled him to be one of the top dove?

I would argue that it all has to do with their mental toughness. The common thing that all successful people share is the toughness of their mind. Successful people tend to have the ability to look at their current situation and believe that they can mold it to what they want it to. They have the ability to believe in their visions so much that it becomes a certainty rather than a probability. They have very good understanding of who they are and what they want in life, and take all the actions-- develop all the skills necessary to attain it. When it comes to obtaining their dreams,
they embody the philosophy of very successful athletes, to "go hard, or go home". All behaviors that start in the mind.

This is the key to successful peoples success. Their minds are tough enough to tackle all the neccesary actions to obtain what they want. Yes their goals may change them, may cause them to feel pain, caused them to be resented but they have the will to keep going despite all of that. Despite of all the sacrifices they may have to make for years and years, their will drives them forward.

For most of us, we stray from the idea of being successful because of the sacrifices required indicating how we really don't want it bad enough. For this reason most of us are not meant to live our dreams. We have to remember though, that we have the power to turn our lives into anything we want it to be, we just have to do it.