Eckhart TolleNYT Bestselling author of the Power of Now

The Real Measure of Success in Life

11 Mar 2026 · 1 min

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1:10

In this brief teaching, Eckhart Tolle asks whether we are present in our activities, using the gardener and the CEO as contrasting examples. He argues that true success is not determined by external roles or achievements but by the state of consciousness behind the action. If the gardener is fully present while working, they embody the art of living, whereas a CEO lost in egoic thought is not truly successful, regardless of status. Tolle emphasizes that presence, not the specific activity, defines genuine success.

Chapters

Are you present in what you do? If the gardener is present, the CEO of the big company is totally in his or her egoic mind, then the gardener is successful in the art of living and the CEO is not. Whether you plant flowers or trees or somewhere in a garden and you do your gardening and you're present with that, or you're sitting in a skyscraper somewhere as the president, CEO of the company, are you present? You could even theoretically reverse it. The CEO is present and the gardener He's complaining about what he's doing, doesn't like it, wants to get to the end of it already. But so it doesn't really matter what you do, but how— state of consciousness that's behind the doing.