Success is many things to different people. The oxford dictionary defines success as “The accomplishment of an aim or purpose”. While most people think success is when your signature changes to an autograph this is not always the case. It’s scoring a goal, a try. Whilst to others it’s simply passing or catching a ball in the game. It's getting a lead in a show, or it could be saying your one line on stage without having a nervous breakdown. It is different for everyone. Success is being proud of work you have done, no matter how small or large the task. So what stops us from achieving these goals we set ourselves? Fear.

Fear of failure. Fear of what your peers may think. I’m not going to sugar coat it boys, you will suck at something in your life. You will be kicked to the ground time and time again. You’ll embarrass yourself. You’ll make mistakes, and have dreams crushed whilst wondering why you didn’t get the result you wanted. While it is inevitable that this will happen, in the wise words of Winston Churchill “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm”. So what does this mean? This means that everyone needs to stop judging failure by how much you lose. You need to start judging it by how much you learn. This means that no matter how many times you fail you keep your eye on the prize. Because nobody remembers the mistakes if your success is great enough. Nobody remembers Jim Carrey dropping out of High School aged 16, working as a janitor to support his mother while he went from audition to audition, failing. Nobody remembers that it took Thomas Eddison 1000 attempts, 1000 fails, before he had that one successful experiment that brought the world the light bulb. That one attempt is what everyone remembers. If you learn something from failure then you have not lost. If you are afraid to fail you aren't willing to succeed. To be worthy of success you have to be able to move from failure to failure always saying “I’ll try it just one more time”.

Passion is a true key to success. When I speak of passion, I don't mean it in the romantic way. What I mean by passion is the powerful feeling of enthusiasm we all have inside of us. We are all enthusiastic and passionate about something, whether it is culture, food or a favourite sport. That enthusiasm is very powerful. When we can combine it with our work, we are setting ourselves up well for achieving true success. And anyone that has been extremely successful in their life has been so because they have been passionate about the goal they want to achieve. Now not everyone sitting in this auditorium will want the same things out of life and have the same goals. That is good. But if you let the people around you dictate what your passions are then you will have an unfulfilled life. You will have been unsuccessful. Take the sports tributes in the hall outside, the pictures of famous old boys on the walls of this auditorium as an example. Two things link all of these names together. They were Otago Boys’ boys and they followed their passion. Who knows how many more photos and sports jerseys could be hung on these walls if everyone in the brotherhood fully supported one another. True success is much more than having a lot of wealth and fame. It’s not about just fitting in, it is about enjoying the work you do. In some ways, it is more important than having medals and commendations. It may not be easy, but chances are it will be worth the effort.

Frank Bank once said “If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you will find an excuse.” So if you are passionate, if you are willing to take hits and learn from your mistakes, willing to be yourself, then you will find a way. You will find success. 

Thank you.