Whatever You Become, Become Your Best: The College and Graduate Guide to Wisdom for Success in Life

Whatever You Become,

Become Your Best

The College and Graduate Guide to

Wisdom for Success in Life

––––––––

Gary and Esther Berkley

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to our grandchildren, Karina, and Kaden, and to their current and future peers in colleges, universities, and graduate schools. They are all our future great generation.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2021 Gary and Esther Berkley

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher.

K and K Press

235 N Moorpark Rd STE A #1318

Thousand Oaks, CA 91358

[email protected]

Some Positive Reader Comments About Whatever You Become, Become Your Best.

This book is full of wonderful quotes, insightful discussion, and inspiring words of wisdom While it’s geared toward those who are college aged, this book is awesome for any age. ...look forward to reading it again in the future. M.T.

...amazing number of quotes, many of which are by themselves wonderful to read, but by giving the reader something other books of quotations fail to do - commentary. Rather than a who's who as the most important aspect of the book, the commentary gives the reader the opportunity to put the particular quote in context such that its significance is in suggesting to the reader how that quotation can assist to leading not only a productive life, but one within appropriate ethical boundaries. A.G.

This beautiful book is ... a compendium of wisdom ... simple to access, direct, and to the point. It does not require a lot of dedicated study. Rather, it is a collection of gold nuggets" on subjects such as life, character, courage, kindness, forgiveness, love, and many more; all punctuated by insightful quotations. What better way to inspire the youth of today and tomorrow! I love it! You will also. M.W.

Things they should have taught us in school. School teaches people how to do tasks, but it doesn't teach us the underlying principles of how to interact with the world positively to achieve what we want. Easy to read and well-formulated! V.R.

"Words of wisdom not only for college and graduate students! Well written series of one-pagers, discussing life lessons from multiple sources. One often hears quotes from great people, but rarely are they strung together with practical analysis and everyday applications as are presented here. If you have just 15 minutes each day to devote to your personal growth, this book is the way to approach it! Recommended! G.D.

Must read for students and parents. This book is a real gem, full of useful tips for students and parents. I highly recommend it. M.L.

Insightful and inspiring. A lovely read full of great advice not just for college, but life as well. P.N.

"...an inspiring book...to be read a bit at a time. As you read you can take a quote and think about it, then go to another. The reflections from the authors are thoughtful and help you to get the main idea. G.H.

An amazing success toolbox perfect for the college student...easy to read personal growth reference.... R.E.K.

"There is something in this book for everyone, not just college students. It is a book for our times, because this book can make our lives better, more meaningful, and successful. I highly recommend it.  K.B.

...though targeted to college students there is so much wisdom in it for any adult to read and put to use in your own life. Very uplifting, encouraging, and easy to read and we enjoyed sharing it with our now graduated from college son. F.D.

Contents

DEDICATION

INTRODUCTION

SUCCESS

LIFE

ACHIEVEMENT

AMBITION

BELIEF

CHARACTER

CHOICE

COURAGE

DEDICATION

DOING THE RIGHT THING

DOING YOUR BEST

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

EMPATHY AND COMPASSION

ENVISIONING

FAIRNESS

FOCUS AND CONCENTRATION

FORGIVENESS

GOALS

GRATITUDE

HAPPINESS

HELPING

HOPE

HUMILITY

KINDNESS

LOVE

PATIENCE

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

POSITIVE THINKING

PURPOSE

RELATIONSHIPS: PRINCIPLES OF QUALITY

ROMANTIC LOVE AND COURTSHIP

RESILIENCE

RESPECT

SELF-REFLECTION

SELF-RESPONSIBILITY

SUFFERING

TOLERANCE

WELL-BEING

WILLPOWER

WISDOM

INTRODUCTION

Making a Life: Wisdom for Success

Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living, the other helps you make a life. Eleanor Roosevelt, former First Lady of U.S. 1933-1945.

In the information age and social media environment in which we live there has never been a greater need to develop not only our intellect and technical know-how, but also our wisdom.

In Whatever You Become, Become Your Best, we highlight an invaluable theme that emphasizes the primary importance of wisdom for achieving success. It is through the learning and use of wisdom that one understands and becomes committed to the values, human qualities and aspirations that are essential for true success in life.

Why We Wrote this Book

If there is a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. Toni Morrison, American novelist.

When our grandchildren were first about to go off to college, we wanted to give them a meaningful and worthwhile gift, a very special book. This book would emphasize the importance of acquiring wisdom for living a successful life. It would make extensive use of great quotations, which are powerful learning tools; and it would be written in a way that would encourage the development of thoughtful reflection about the meaning of true success in life.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t find an already published book that fit all the goals we had in mind. So, we followed Toni Morrison’s inspiring advice, and decided to write it ourselves. Therefore, we wrote this timely and necessary book, that combines the power of quotations with the insights of wisdom to communicate the important message of wisdom for success in life. 

Quotations and the Power of Insight

A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience.  Oliver Wendell Holmes, American physician, and poet.

Have you ever been in a situation where you found yourself striving for a goal, struggling with a problem, or being in a difficult circumstance, and all you needed was a little wisdom, encouragement, enlightenment, or insight to thrust you on your way? In all contexts and stages of life, as we pursue success, we all face challenges during the ups and downs of life, and the knowledge of a memorable and profound quote can provide us with an invaluable insight or wisdom in our paths. It can make all the difference during the important and pressing moments of life that call for insight, sound judgment and good advice.

What better way to explore the connections of wisdom and success than with insightful quotations? Quotations have literally exploded in their cultural prominence, and they are today one of the most popular, fascinating, and powerful sources for encouraging insight into all facets of life.

Quotations and Legacies of Wisdom

The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are perpetuated by quotations. Benjamin Disraeli, former British Prime Minister.

Throughout the centuries and up through the present day, countless wise men and women have created and continue to create a vast legacy of insightful, and relatively short and profound statements of wisdom that have derived from the lessons and insights they learned in their often distinguished and extraordinary lives of meaning and achievement.

Through the quotations in this book, their thoughts bring together what we suggest is an invaluable legacy of wisdom for success. They are artful verbal expressions containing insights and lessons about living effectively and in the most practical, spiritually rewarding, and enlightening way.

We have carefully selected hundreds of the best quotations we could find on forty categories related to the theme of wisdom for success. These quotations are followed by our commentaries with the goal of communicating invaluable legacies of wisdom, and of contributing to the reader’s own personal wisdom.

Using Wisdom as a Guide

Make wisdom your provision for the journey from youth to old age, for it is a more certain support than all other possessions. Bias of Priene, ancient Greek sage, 500-600 BC.

Learning wisdom and becoming wise are necessary for living a life of value, dignity, happiness, and well-being, which in the end is what true success is all about. Wisdom teaches you to mindfully live by a set of desirable values such as purpose, love, self-understanding, commitment, goals, achievement, patience, self-discipline, focus, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, resilience and more. By learning and continuing to develop wisdom as a resource for good judgment, understanding, insight, and awareness, we establish the foundations and criteria for living a successful life:

Having a moral compass

Developing worthwhile qualities of mind and spirit like self-understanding, kindness, compassion, love, peace of mind, wisdom, patience, mindfulness/meditation, and a positive sense of well-being

Possessing the necessary insight for the successful management of your emotions, preventing negativity, and solving problems in a positive way

Being aware of the great role that personal responsibility plays in your life in developing good character, self-mastery, and personal growth

How to Get the Most Out of This Book

We suggest you read this book like you would a collection of short stories, essays, or poems. There is no need to try to read everything in one or two sittings, nor to read it in the order from front to back. 

Do begin though, with the Table of Contents. Each chapter relates to a component category of what we refer to as wisdom for success. The chapters are presented alphabetically, and not in any priority order of importance. So, feel free to begin with the chapters that seem most interesting to you. But over time, try to read them all. The overall meaning of wisdom for success tends to have a greater personal impact and to make more sense when viewed from the perspective of the entirety of the book.

Sooner Rather Than Later

Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon, and wise too late. Benjamin Franklin, statesman and philosopher.

Why wait until you are old to become wise?

It is far more helpful and useful to learn and develop wisdom for success earlier in life, rather than later. It is far better to have the advantage of wisdom as you are creating your life, rather than only when you are looking back on it.  

SUCCESS

Thriving and Not Simply Surviving

Just living isn't enough, said the butterfly, one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower. Hans Christian Anderson, Danish writer, and novelist.

There is a crucial difference between surviving and thriving. When you are surviving, you may be working hard and getting by, but you are not experiencing a genuine sense of well-being. You do not feel like you are living up to your values or full potentials. You feel that something is missing, and that there is more to life than what you have been experiencing.

When you are thriving, however, the conditions of your life feel in sync, and you experience a sense of fulfillment in what you are doing. You experience a true sense of success and well-being.

When it comes to building a successful life, let the idea of achieving success with well-being be your guide. Seek to thrive, and not simply survive.

Living with a Moral Compass

Not life, but good life, is to be fully valued. It is not living that matters; but living rightly. Socrates, ancient Greek moral philosopher.

The important thing in life is not just to get by and survive, but to live with moral purpose. You should live your life guided by and accountable to moral values, like decency, goodness, wisdom, integrity, and responsibility. These values define what is right, and it is through living by them that you can achieve the goal of living rightly and living a successful life.

By implication, not living rightly will deprive your achievements of moral value and undermine the integrity of your self-evaluations as having been genuinely successful.

Things Money Cannot Buy

It is good to have money and all the things money can buy, but it is good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure you haven’t lost the things money can’t buy. George Horace Lorimer, American journalist, and author.

We often view success in terms of money and the things that money can buy, but the truth is that a successful life depends primarily on things that money cannot buy, and these are the things we should never lose sight of if we are committed to living a successful life.

Some of the things that define success in life are the following: our state of well-being, our values, our cherished relationships, our purpose in life, our love for the work we do and finding satisfaction in activities we engage in.

If we lose those things, we will have lost what is essential for a successful life. We will have lost the inner dimensions of what living a successful life means. And that is why we must keep checking up on ourselves, to make sure we are not losing sight of them.

Achieving Good Character

The crown and glory of life is character. It is the noblest possession of a man, constituting a rank in itself and estate in the general good will... It exercises a greater power than wealth and secures all the honor without the jealousies of fame. Samuel Smiles, Scottish author, and statesman.

Developing a good character is at the foundation of living a successful life. You may be rich and famous and powerful, but if you are not a moral person, the designation of being a successful person will always elude you. As a moral person and a person of good character, it can be said that you possess such virtues as integrity, courage, fortitude, honesty, kindness, and compassion.

Having lots of money and other material advantages may make your life more comfortable; but simply having those advantages will not justify describing you as having been indeed truly successful.

Only a person of good character can be considered successful, as true success has a necessary ethical dimension. If you want to be successful, the development of your character needs to be a major and ongoing goal throughout your life. To be successful, therefore, you will need to live your life as an ethical person who is guided by, and who is accountable to positive moral values.

Living with Purpose

Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it Buddha, spiritual teacher, and leader.

Know the true purpose of your life, what you believe in and what you love to do. Once you know your purpose, you stop running after things that do not matter, and you follow your passion and your commitment. For example, you earnestly pursue your course of study and focus on the accomplishment of your goals and dreams. You focus your attention completely with your heart and mind on those matters that contribute to the fulfillment of your purpose.

The importance of finding your purpose cannot be overstated. In the words of Mark Twain, the great American writer and humorist, The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.

When you have come to understand what your purpose is, the surest way to fulfill it will be to follow its path and take the steps necessary to achieve it. Your purpose will become your roadmap to success. As Pele, the great Brazilian soccer player said, Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing.

Living with Inner Contentment and Dignity

We need not be rich to be generous, nor have all wisdom to be understanding. Our influence may not be great, but it can be good. Our speech may not be eloquent, but it can be truthful and sincere. We cannot all have good looks, but we can have good conscience, and having that, we shall have peace of mind and need fear no man.  Unknown.

An important attribute of a successful life is the achievement of an inner sense of contentment and fulfillment that is relatively independent of external conditions; and this experience of inner contentment depends on the values, attitudes, choices, and aspirations of each distinct person. Individuals in a wide variety of social and economic circumstances can enjoy the inner contentment of a successful life. 

Knowing how to enjoy what you have and not to be overly anxious and frustrated about the things you do not have is essential for the achievement of a sense of inner contentment.

For example: being at peace with