Some of the greatest battle wins have happened, and wars were lost after those small battles were won in a great way. Why? Because, in winning any war, including every day wars and struggles of life, what is worth it has to be picked, chosen, and clear strategies must be made clear as to when and why to take action in any matter. Small battles that are not worth it and large battles that are genuinely worth winning must be delineated clearly and fully. In short, leaping without looking is the most foolish thing that can be done.
Anything that is worth doing is worth doing right, and successfully. This is a key to what I mean by when you win, you must choose why you win it, what you when and how you win, in that order. Why you win is most important, because without the proper why, the rest will not work. Sacrificing for nothing is the most foolish thing you can do, you betray your reason why you are doing it as a whole. But when you have a good reason and know why you are doing it genuinely, you are that much closer to genuine success and greatness. When you do not know why or are not sure, you are that much farther from success. Genuine failure is simply not having a strong enough reason why to succeed. With that said, a success that is genuine knows absolutely why success is needed and wanted. A success that is phony or fake just wants success to "look good". So, I will impart this: This is where looking good and genuinely being good are two different things genuinely.
Living by what others think successfully is the epitome or highest ideal of looking good. Being good in your own genuine estimation is genuine success. That is a strong enough reason why that naturally combines with the how and creates the reason for you. Looking good is just empty success, being good is successful, it does not matter how you look at it, then. A genuine fool wants to look good for others. A genuinely astute and wise person wants to be good for themselves. In this sense, I can honestly say that life is as good as we make it for ourselves, but if dishonesty were the case, the "wisdom" of a genuine fool in my opinion would be: "They who die with the most toys, money, and clout wins." I believe in my first statement avowedly, life is as good as we make it for ourselves, and I would like to add this Aristotelian statement: Happiness is real power and the sadness lies in living purely by what others think and say. This is where the sadness happens of "winning" the battle that does not count, and not the war that does count. So, I will end on a politically honest note: Polls do not cause happiness, actions do cause happiness though when done right.