So, I'm at B&N, and as usual, I become spellbound by all of the collective knowledge that is, literally, at my fingertips as I walk up and down the aisles. I find it absolutely mind-boggling that you can be in a single edifice and hold the keys to the universe if you look closely enough ( I was, coincidentally, in the space-exploration aisle). I suppose the same could be said if you are standing in a library, but there is something about those clear plastic wrappings they put on library books that makes what is contained within seem less accessible. But, as usual, I digress.
So, there I am, walking among the aisles of knowledge and I find myself in the self-help section looking at all the titles: The Success Book, How to Succeed in Business, 7 Secrets of Successful Teens etc. All of these books, all dedicated to the notion of success. That was when it hit me--how do these books ever sell? Aren't all individual ideas of what success is dramatically different? And then, it hit me again..."I wonder what my poppets' definitions of success are? Hmmmmmm...blog question!" And now, here we are.
So, tell me--what is YOUR definition of success? What are the hallmarks, again, to YOU, of a successful person? How do you judge whether or not you are successful? Are there different levels, different measures of importance tied to levels? What do you need to have, to own, to acquire in order to feel successful? What types of things need to happen in order for you to see yourself as a success?
(450 words/60pts)
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hahaha i just had an argument with my mom about our differing ideas of success.
Success… for me, it’s a purely intellectual concept. Success in business would have nothing at all to do with monetary gains (though outstanding losses would certainly not help!) Success in school: having your own ideas repeatedly confirmed my competent judges. (The incompetent ones are more likely to agree immediately that you’re right, but you don’t need to work for it. You need to actually accomplish something to get a good grade in a real class.) In science: learn something interesting without blowing up the lab. In love: find someone interesting to talk to, who is willing to stay with you in most of your activities. In life… I can’t give a serious answer. After all, I haven’t yet started to live!
I see no virtue in being rich/powerful but unhappy. A life that gives no pleasure is nothing but a tether. Unless you’re sacrificing for some greater cause (humanitarian, environmentalist, religious, etc…), that is. Chances are, though, you’re not part of the bigger picture. You’re probably a cog in some machine. Another generic, interchangeable part could do the exact same job… So, if you’re not enjoying it, give another cog that position. You’ll be happy somewhere else.
At the moment, I count myself as quite successful: I just discovered that the Rommany language does in fact trace back to India, as George Borrow predicted in the early 1800’s. And I found out that Wales is still a green, wild place, albeit full of old men and tourists. Why should I feel a sense of triumph at this? I have been obsessed with Wales since the 4th grade. Granted, the Wales I fell in love with existed only around the end of the 14th century…. But it doesn’t sound like it has changed too much.
So, though I didn’t actually do anything, I feel triumphant. Some part of my mind is jumping up and down, shouting “Yes! We were right! You and Borrow and the ancient bards weren’t hideously off the mark. The world still does spin in your sphere!”
I don’t really notice varying degrees of success. Either you’re thinking interesting thoughts, doing something you love, and fully able to up and leave if you want to, or you’re not. But it’s a transient state. As soon as you’re no longer at liberty to leave, the instant your thoughts turn stale, that feeling vanishes.
And it can only be a feeling, and therefore very personal. There’s no way to measure how happy someone is, or how useful their thoughts are. Any such calculations will only provide nonsense-data. (Which, of course, the scientists will analyze, formulate, mutilate and mangle until they have some kind graph. Doubtless, they will count it a success once that is produced.)
Owning things doesn’t help, though the process of chasing things, and the catch at the end provides success. Once the prize is acquired, there’s no point in holding on to it. It becomes clutter, and can actually impede you later on. If you can’t ditch things when you need to, you’ll be crushed under your pile of knick-knacks, trinkets, trophies and mementos.
Everyone always says that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Well, I think that success is in the eye of the beholder as well. Everyone should have their own individual definition of success, for themselves. You can't really judge or gauge somebody else's success unless you know all that they have been through. This word is thrown around quite often to describe people, however I don't think it's used correctly.
Overall, success is accomplishing goals. I think that this is the most broad definition I can come up with. It requires you to set a goal and work towards it. Therefore, no one can tell you how to be successful. They can give general pointers, or provide examples but ultimately nothing can create success but the individual. We all have the potential, it's just a matter of who steps up.
To me, successful people are those that have a high level of intelligence, and thus use it to better the world. Or people who use their kindness to do good deeds. Success is reaching out and using all abilities and talents to the fullest, with the intention of helping others. This of course is success on a large scale. On a smaller scale, success can be something as simple as a child learning their ABCs or a veteran learning to walk again. There are a multitude of tasks accomplished on a daily basis that define success. These are people, just achieving their goals.
The more I contemplate it, the more I realize that success almost always involves learning. You start somewhere and end up somewhere else, due to what you learn. How can one be successful if they have not learned or discovered something? Because success involves growth, and growth involves learning. I believe that there is a direct link to the 2 concepts.
For me personally, success involves getting good grades, mainatining strong relationships, taking care of my body, and being happy. These are the goals I work towards on a daily basis. All three will lead me towards success. Getting good grades means that I am trying hard in school and learning useful information. This will (hopefully) lead me to a good college and eventually, a strong career. Striving for good relationships will assure that I am never without a friend or family member, and that I will always have someone to turn to. It also will teach me a lot about humans. It's very important to me to preserve my body. I want to be strong and healthy so as to prolong my time on earth as much as I can. Being happy is obvious. I think it's a goal that almost all of us set for ourselves. If I can manage to keep these three things in check, I feel as though I will be successful.
To me, success means accomplishing the goals in your heart. Those wants and needs deep down in your heart are the ones that matter the most. You could fail a test but that does not mean you are not successful. You could have just had a bad day or maybe math just is not your thing. You can not be good at everything.
A successful person is intelligent in their own field, works hard at what they do, and most of all is happy. Happiness is key because to me life is about making choices that please you, not that other people do not count, just that in order to be successful in life you have to find your muse. You could be an ice cream driver, but if that is what makes you happy then who am I to judge you? You do not need to go to an Ivy or win a nobel prize to be successful. It is nice to go down in the history books but that doesn’t make you any more successful than a stay-at-home mom. Another thing, you need to have some power in order to be successful. You need to be strong and confident enough to stand up for what you believe in and accomplish your goals.
I pretty much just measure my success by how happy I am. If my goal is to annoy my brother and I accomplish it, it is good enough for me. =) It does not take a lot to make me happy but as a smile-a-holic, I know there is different levels. If I smirk then my success is at an okay level. If I smile all out then it is good. If I start laughing hysterically then I’m either awesome or high off of chocolate.
I feel like I am being redundant but again I have to be happy in order to be successful. I could be a millionaire but if I am not happy then there is no point in being one. Money does not buy happiness.
I would like to become a doctor or something of the sort. It would make me feel like I was on top of the world. I just want to help people. If I could give someone some medicine so they could live a couple more years with their family then it would make all the difference. I would like to be married and have kids too like a traditional girl I guess but I am still going to be crazy. It is what I am best at. =) After all that I am safe to say that I would die not only being happy but being successful.
Devon,
This was my favorite paragraph of your blog:
"The more I contemplate it, the more I realize that success almost always involves learning. You start somewhere and end up somewhere else, due to what you learn. How can one be successful if they have not learned or discovered something? Because success involves growth, and growth involves learning. I believe that there is a direct link to the 2 concepts."
You are absolutely correct. Success involves learning through trial and error and what not.
Oh yeah i also enjoyed the rest of your blog. It was very cute but confident. LOL
So I read this blog yesterday, and I didn’t really know how to tackle it. Until I saw the season premiere of Jon and Kate Plus 8. I used to adore the show, love the innocence of each person. But apparently everything has changed. Jon and Kate’s marriage is falling apart and their family is suffering the consequences. They aren’t the happy family they used to be, and although they may make more than they ever have before, they aren’t as successful. And then it hit be, being successful is being happy. Of course, to each is their own. And one person’s happiness may be completely different from their neighbors, but they could both be successful.
My definition of success is waking up every morning and loving what you do. That could be going to work at a high end law firm, another day traveling around Europe, or taking care of your family. Each one of these people is happy, and in their own right successful. You can judge your happiness right before you fall asleep. When you are truly happy, right before you daze off into that dream-state, every worry leaves you, and you feel truly relaxed. If you aren’t happy, the shimmer of doubt or that secret that you hold with you lays heavy on your chest before you fall asleep, telling you that there is something that you need to change in your life. I don’t think that there are different levels of success, because everyone judges their success differently. But I do think that if you desire to be successful, you need one thing, something that you love. Whether it is a hobby, a pet, job, or a person, you need someone or something to fuel your happiness. Rarely can people be happy on their own, without something that they truly love.
They key thing you need to see yourself as successful is confidence. As corny as it may sound, you can’t live your life sad and insecure; you need to be happy with who you are and where you are in life. Even if you are a trash man, you need to remind yourself that you have done everything in your power to get where you are, and you are happy every day going to work.
And as I read everyone else’s blog, I see that we all tone in on the aspect of happiness as success. There are so many people out there with the beautiful houses; buttloads of money, and what seems to be the perfect life, but inside they are hurting. They aren’t happy. They sacrificed their career or reputation for the pride and success of their family. I am not saying that you can’t be rich and happy, but there is that limit where people take it too far, and you know that they come to work or school each day with the fake smile on their face because they can’t let others know that they aren’t happy, they aren’t successful.
Dev-
“We all have the potential, it's just a matter of who steps up.”
I love that. That concept is something that everyone seems to forget, even myself sometimes. We all have the ability to succeed, to reach our goals. But it comes down to the people who will work hard, who will fight, to accomplish their goals. Love it!
SUCCESS
Success is such a subjective subject (Oh yeah! Working that alliteration!)
For me, success is just the ability to achieve happiness, whether big or small. A person doesn’t have to have the best paying job or be the richest person in the world to be successful, in my eyes. They could be destitute and down on their luck at the time, but if they have the ability to somehow stay optimistic and reach happiness, then they are successful. You see, success is good. Good is happiness. Therefore success is happiness. (The logic of a messed up teenage girl! Boo-yah!)
To me, the hallmarks of a successful person is when the smallest things in life makes them happy, you know they’ve got it good. Life is such a hard thing to go through, if you can find happiness in little things and go about life one step at a time, you are successful. I mean, if a hug or, oh I don’t know, snacks make you happy and you get them everyday, you’re going to have a pretty cool life being a great success. Yeah.
I judge if I am successful by the amount of people who say that I am always happy and tell me that the most random things make me happy. I don’t have a lot of “stuff”, but I don’t mind. I think I am successful because, regardless of expectations and whatnot, I am generally happy with everything. Plus, it’s really easy to tell whether or not a person is successful if you look at what they like, how many times they smile in a day and what they think about their life so far. There are always those people who lie, but overall, I like to think that your way of thinking is set and you say it like it is.
Levels of success=how happy you are.
The happier you are, the more successful you are in life.
Plain and simple.
The funny thing is, you really don’t need to have, own or acquire anything if you’re really good at being happy. However, if a thing like a hug or a song makes you happy, then you need some form of that to feel successful. But if you’re really good, just living makes you happy and that’s all you need to feel successful, that take of fresh air everyday reminding you that you are alive and well. Ah… you gotta love it.
The thing that’s got to happen in order for you to see yourself as a success…
Is to just be happy with yourself the way you are and go out there and live! Life is hard, yeah, but if you don’t mind that and you keep going at it, you are a success! The easiest way to see yourself as a success is when someone tells you that you are awesome the way you are. That’s the greatest way!
So go, my little AP kittens!!! Together, go tell everyone you love that they are awesome the way they are, make them happy and feeling a little successful today in their life, and making the world a better place! PEACE!!
To Eva:
"Owning things doesn’t help, though the process of chasing things, and the catch at the end provides success. Once the prize is acquired, there’s no point in holding on to it. It becomes clutter, and can actually impede you later on. If you can’t ditch things when you need to, you’ll be crushed under your pile of knick-knacks, trinkets, trophies and mementos."
You tell it like it is, girl!!!
I really like how you divided success and its meaning in different categories. That was very interesting and it was a great way of setting your views straight first for different kinds of success. Compared to yours, I feel like mine is BLAH!
Also, I really like how you said you "see no virtue in being rich/powerful but unhappy. A life that gives no pleasure is nothing but a tether." I think that's great and you're right! Being rich/powerful doesn't make you successful, not if it makes you unhappy! I have a whole ton of respect for you now.
Oop, and there I have to go! Great blog as always Eva, you always stand on a tier that I find to be very interesting and amazing in itself. Respect! *pumps chest or whatever they do when they say that*
Leonor-
"To me, success means accomplishing the goals in your heart. Those wants and needs deep down in your heart are the ones that matter the most."
I couldn't agree more. This is exactly how I feel about success. Everyone has a different take on what creates a successful individual, and I feel as though it derives from our need to accomplish goals. When we accomplish something, we are happy, and we are successful.
Success. The idea of success and its possibility of failure has always been one of my fears. I’m afraid of taking a wrong turn down the road of life and becoming inadequate. I’m afraid of becoming unhappy with my life and myself. That is my definition of success. Success is the fulfillment of one self. It is what makes you feel happy and important. Everyone has a purpose in life. It is a purpose that only you can determine. However, success doesn’t always deal with achieving a goal or earning a great deal of money. Sometimes, success deals with a personal achievement.
Only YOU can judge if you’re successful or not. Of course, there will be people looking from the outside that will try to rank your success, but that doesn’t matter. Their ideal of success may be completely different from yours. You know that you are successful when you can sit down, look at your life, and feel content. It doesn’t matter what other people think of your success. It only matters if you’re proud at yourself for it. If you are proud of your accomplishments, it should always be a success in your eyes. And if you are proud and consider your own self successful, people will see that success shine through you.
The measure of success is tied directly to one’s happiness. If you died today a happy person, wouldn’t you consider your life fulfilling? The idea of success will always be different for each person and the importance of a success will depend on the person as well. It may depend upon whether you are a pessimistic or optimistic person. For a pessimistic, success is achieving a goal and failure is not an option. In contrast, an optimistic may see the attempt and the act of trying as a success. For them, doing the best they can do is fulfilling. There is beauty in the attempt especially if you come out a better person because of it. I think that all the different levels of success aim towards the betterment of a person no matter if it’s winning the school spelling bee or landing your dream job. Such achievements can give you things such as courage, confidence, and determination- things that you can’t just buy over the counter.
Happiness definitely plays an important role in my ideal of success. I know that the years to come are going to be hard and stressful, but if I turn out to be a happy individual, I will feel successful. I just hope that I have the courage and strength to work through the trials and tribulations. I hope that I don’t get involved in the wrong things. I want to remain true to myself. I do consider having a career part of being successful, but not for monetary purposes. I want a career that makes me happy, one that I don’t mind waking up everyday to. One more thing that is important to my success is having a family of my own. It would be great to have a significant other, but my main goal is to one day have kids of my own. The plan is to have a good career that will keep me happy, provide for my kids, but will not take me away from them.
Success comes in a variation of different forms and everyone finds their own ways to be successful. You do not have to grow up to be a millionaire or billionaire with thirty-five companies and thousands of employees that idolize your very being, but success can come in the simplest of forms as making yourself happy. Success could be growing up to have a loving husband, adorable kids, and a nice house with a job that you don’t mind doing. To me, I think success greatly depends on the individual. If a person achieves the goals and standards they have set for themselves or that have been set by others, than he or she is successful. Making them feel good and accomplished really is what creates the feeling that they have done what they needed to do.
I agree, Ms. Bunje, when you posed the question asking that aren’t all individuals’ ideas of success dramatically different. For example, a 100 on a test is a perfect score, correct? Well in one of my more challenging subjects, pre-calc, my idea of success would be to get anything between an 85 to a 95. 100 would be ideal, but I know that since I am not the best in that class, I should set my goal to get a grade in that range. That would be great for my own abilities, rather than fail the test or quiz. A successful person is someone who can meet these high standards they set, and they are happy in what they do. They enjoy their life and everything in it, while also trying to better themselves by accomplishing these goals that he or she is constantly setting. I am not saying a success is a person if they addicted to drugs even though they might seem to “enjoy” that lifestyle, but in reality that is a person who was just not strong enough to overcome the temptation. They gave in to it, and now just cannot stop because it consumes their life. A successful person is one who works hard to overcome an obstacle to succeed and win.
In my classes this year I have worked really hard, and I know I have done the best to my abilities in the majority of my classes. This reward has been shown in my grades. I am satisfied with how things turned out, yet I feel like I could have gotten straight A’s one or two marking periods, but either way I have made honor society and I feel like I did a good job this year, another sign I am doing well academically is the massive amounts of letters I have received from schools saying that they want students like me. Beyond academics, I have made new friends and expanded my social circle, while also becoming more outgoing. This overall had made me feel better about myself, and had improved my personality. In my eyes I had a very successful year and I am pleased with how it turned out, academically and socially. I, myself, do not consider me to be a success yet. I can say I have had a successful year, but I am not one at this point in my life. I need to see where I am in ten or twenty years. If I have the career of my dreams, while also having a family, and great house then yes, I might consider myself to be a success. My philosophy is if you become the person you want to see yourself as, then you have become a success.
You need to be confident and believe in yourself to be successful, as well as respecting yourself and other people. Once the high self esteem and the “Can do anything” attitude is built, than there is the beginning of a solid foundation for success. Then, of course, goals, priorities, and desires need to be mapped out and planned on how he or she can go to accomplish what they want. Anything can happen if you really want it to. Anyone can succeed if they put their mind to it. The determination and predetermined goals just need to be there in order for someone to succeed.
As the resident vocal hedonist of the class, I feel it my duty to put forth my simplistic opinion. I believe in happiness as the basis of success. Life and liberty are worthless without it, intellectual pursuit is only meant to lead to it, and kindness to others is only to give others happiness. So why would you quantify your success through achievements or objects? True success is based upon how much happiness you bring into the world opposed to how much pain you bring.
Keep in mind, however, that I may still refer to success in casual conversation in the classic sense, AKA: monetary value. In that sense, I might say that Bill Gates is a very successful man. He may actually be a very successful man, judging by the Bill and Melinda gates foundation, but I would not be referring to him as such.
I'm reluctant to put levels to success. I don't believe success is really quantifiable, yet, at the same time, it's possible to be more successful than someone else. It's a rather difficult way to attack the question. Rather than being a simple elevator-style up down measure, I see it as working on both an X and Y axis. (Oh noes! Maths!) Because it's impossible to say how much happiness is worth how much suffering, the amount of happiness caused would need to be on one axis, and the amount of pain caused would be on another. The most successful people would have caused a minimum amount of pain, and a high amount of happiness. Keep in mind, however, that I do not believe one should discriminate based on who receives the happiness. If a man chooses to eat an ice cream cone, and enjoys it as much as a friend would, then it would make little difference whether he decided to eat the ice cream himself, or give it to his friend. However, doing good things for others is still usually the better choice. If that man had given the ice cream to a poor child, the child likely would have enjoyed the ice cream far more, making that a better act than eating it himself. This is, of course, assuming that the ice cream causes no pain in the child. Generally, it would be better to do something small that makes someone happy than something large which would make someone very happy, as well as cause slight pain.
Pain and happiness work in the other direction as well. One can prevent potential happiness, as well as prevent potential pain. Furthering the graph metaphor, these would be ways of lowering your status on either axis. Murdering a miserable man in his sleep could be a good act, in this way. Because you may be preventing him from reaching some happiness, you are also preventing a lot of pain. I do not extend this towards infants, however. I'll go into that another time.
To alice: Wow. I never expected we'd have such similar responses to a blog. I have to admit, reading your blog made me think over my own beliefs a little harder, expecially concerning including the happiness of others' in your own success. I stand by my statements though.
Ooh, Molly, you stole what I was thinking. Oh well, I'll do my best.
Success is, as Molly said, doing what you love. Like, for instance, I just finished my math homework. Sure, it's a challenge met, a goal accomplished. But was I happy while doing it? No. Am I proud of myself? Not really. Do I count myself as successful for having finished it? Absolutely not. This is for two reasons: a) I was not happy during any part of the process and b) it was not any sort of challenge. And for me to be successful, it needs to be one or the other.
I need to feel happy to feel successful. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, if I'm out discovering a lost temple or just laying on my bed. I could be watching a movie in my room, and still think to myself, success! Whereas me having a 96% grade average for Algebra II? Not so much. Because Algebra is not fun. Don’t get me wrong, my teacher is doing great, considering what subject she has to teach. But it is not a happy subject. It is not usually challenging. The strongest feelings I usually experience in Algebra is relief that I can rest my brain for 45 minutes, and the occasional feeling of victory when I have the answer to a problem the guy next to me doesn’t.
Which brings me to the next condition of success; a challenge. If something’s challenging enough, even if I don’t like the activity itself, I feel successful just by accomplishing the task. However, somewhat unfortunately, I tend to make every challenge personal. And when I say personal, I mean PERSONAL; I have the odd habit of personifying every challenge I’m faced with, and turning said challenge into my own personal archnemesis. Like this one time (and I know this is a very Mullica example) I was trying to chop a piece of wood in half. However, I guess my upper arm strength was a little lacking, since the fricking thing would not split. My dad offered to take over, but I refused. The little wooden bastard was taunting me, and I had to take him down. So I kept bringing the (really heavy) axe up and around and down, over and over and over. Eventually, about an hour in, I finally cut the thing, and I felt successful. Sure, I couldn’t move my arms without wincing for like a week, but still. I killed that hunk of wood. However, if I’m challenged and I fail, then that’s exactly what I feel like; a failure. And if I win something that was super easy to begin with, something I knew I could win no problem, I don’t really feel anything.
So that’s what I need for success; happiness and a challenge conquered. However, I agree with Devon that everybody sets their own bar for success. It all depends on the individual’s personality. My personality just happens to crave those two things.
Sorry, but my blog still will not fit on one post.
Back in the 1860s, there was once a nineteen-year-old confederate fighting for southern secession who felt success when he was finally given his chance to see blood stream down the face of a unionist he had just shot. There was once a mid-aged, well-known celebrity who felt success when she got away with fifty thousand dollars from her divorce. As unfortunate as it was for Germany’s history, there was once a man who felt success after he devised a plan to systematically murder six million Jews. Even in Sudan today, there is a man who feels success every time he gets to lay his hands on a new unknown woman. For a long time, I have thought of success as something that has been abused. Nevertheless, it is but a mere perspective. Whether it leads to positive or negative outcomes, the idea of it differs in each one of us. At times, it is meant to benefit others, while at other times, it is used to benefit oneself. Its purpose and the motivation that lies behind it, though, is generally focused on accomplishment. Success is the satisfaction of a drive within a person via physical, emotional, or mental means that is influenced by one’s environment and state of mind. It just so happens that this gaining of satisfaction has also corresponded with lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride.
The most distinguishable parts of a successful person are their determination, their charisma, and their reputation. When offered an opportunity, the one with the charm, good health, and lack of disabilities is the one more likely to experience success. Attractiveness and health have been a part of our nature since the very beginning, and they are the very things that influence the course of evolution. The strength of one’s determination and their reputation further improve the likelihood of success. Truly successful people also understand the importance of depending upon others for their success. The more people you have backing your ideas and desires, the better the chance you have of reaching them. As a result, successful people understand the importance of communication, influence, and control. They rarely tend to second-guess themselves, or show signs of fear. Successful people are leaders who never let their followers stray too far behind them. Followers also tend to expect something in return, which a successful person never lets out of sight. In the face of challengers, they are competitive. In the face of disappointment, they are uplifting. In the face of rejoice, they are reposed. Successful persons are always in control.
Personally, as to whether or not I meet success depends upon the happiness or gratification I receive from achieving the success. If I have benefitted not only myself, but others, that is when I feel I have been successful. Success is often a very strange feeling because knowing that there are trillions of other genetic variations living on this planet, each with different goals and mindsets, but you were able to bring yourself above those numbers, allows you to feel more realistic. Each one of us strives to ‘disturb the universe’, and if this universe is not disturbed, we will be swimming in a gene pool which we will never reach the surface of.
The ways in which success can be measured are infinite. There are levels based on how many people the success influences, levels upon how the success is attained, the time during which the success is achieved, etc. Overall, though, I do not see how there can be specific levels of success knowing that our perspectives of success are so different. To find a similar level of success to place a person who wants to murder their family with one who wants to establish homes for the poor seems far too diverse. They may both have determination, but even so, the drive behind this determination, is very different.
In order to feel successful, you need confidence. The adversary of success is regret. As a successful person, you cannot be afraid of mistakes because the truth is that they are unavoidable, but it is your confidence which will open the doors of fate to reveal a different outcome. You do not need a rich husband, and you do not need to be related to the Queen of England; you need to seek opportunities and move through them slowly, never leaving confidence in the background. In order to see yourself as being successful, it’s important to realize that not everyone is given the opportunity to reach it. You can’t live life walking in only one person’s shoes. Putting yourself in another person’s perspective is what will allow you to see yourself as a true success. Just never forget that although success differs vastly from one person to the next, you are the one in control of its effects upon others.
In response to Brendan A:
I thought about what you said about happiness being the basis of success, and I have come to realize that revenge can also be the basis of success. There are those in this world who reach their ‘prized success’ through ruining the lives of others. So, I have to disagree with you that “kindness to others is only to give others happiness” because sometimes it is meant for personal gain. I must say, though, that I like the way your introduction was constructed. “Rather than being a simple elevator-style up down measure, I see it as working on both an X and Y axis. (Oh noes! Maths!) Because it's impossible to say how much happiness is worth how much suffering, the amount of happiness caused would need to be on one axis, and the amount of pain caused would be on another.” I must say, that is an interesting perspective. True, I disagree with the sentence that followed this quote, but I never thought of looking at success and pain as being correlated in that way.
“If a man chooses to eat an ice cream cone, and enjoys it as much as a friend would, then it would make little difference whether he decided to eat the ice cream himself, or give it to his friend. However, doing good things for others is still usually the better choice. If that man had given the ice cream to a poor child, the child likely would have enjoyed the ice cream far more, making that a better act than eating it himself. This is, of course, assuming that the ice cream causes no pain in the child. Generally, it would be better to do something small that makes someone happy than something large which would make someone very happy, as well as cause slight pain.” Brendan, I’ll be quite honest with you, this quote is going to take me a while to fully understand its meaning. I read over it five or six times, I don’t think I understand it yet, but perhaps I’m getting there.
As for the last paragraph, how is it that you would be preventing a person from feeling pain by murdering them? Wouldn’t you be inducing them with pain? Or did you mean after dying, they will not feel pain? Plus, why would you want to prevent someone from experiencing happiness, did the man not deserve it? I must say, I am confused, but who knows, maybe it will come to me. This blog did present a very different perspective though which is notable.
When I’m on my death bed, gasping for my last few gulps of air, I want to have no regrets. I want to know that I lived a happy and full life. I want to know every moment I was lucky enough to have, I enjoyed it. I believe that this is success. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, how big your house is, or how many cars you have in your driveway. All the riches of the kings end up in wills, anyway. Possessions don’t add to our happiness. It matters whether you wake up in the morning, with a smile on your face, looking forward to each and every day, knowing you did something right.
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” - Albert Schweitzer
Those three sentences encompass my opinion of what it means to be a success. Being happy is truly the only way to reach success. Having more money than you ever dreamed of having doesn’t necessarily mean you’re happy. Yes, your career may have led to billions of dollars, but it may not have given you happiness.
To be successful, you have to know what you want out of life and accomplish it by all means necessary. Only you can be the judge of whether you have achieved success or not. People may stare at you with disappointed eyes, but what matters most is that you have set your own goals and reached them. What matters is that you can look at who you’ve turned out to be and be proud of that person.
I don’t necessarily feel that there are different levels of success. You set your own goals. You are the only one who can determine whether you have reached success in life or not. Even if you do not accomplish a goal in life, you still learn and take something out of it. But, like Molly said, there is some underlying motivation, whether it be a partner, a family member, or an activity, that causes you to strive toward each goal you’ve set for yourself. People are rarely happy on their own, without having that certain passion toward something. (I really liked that part of your blog, Mol. I hadn’t really put that idea into perspective until I read that part of your blog.)
You need to believe in yourself in order to reach your goals. They aren’t just handed to you. You have to work for them, and you can’t just give up once you’ve been beaten down a few times. Success is getting back up and continuing the fight. Maybe you’ll get knocked down again, but at least you got a bit farther that time. And success isn’t necessarily reaching that goal. It’s about being happy along the journey and at the end and knowing you stayed to true to your goals and yourself. Happiness and confidence are the keys to my success.
I think success has a broad definition and then a sub-definition- for example “individualized definitions”. The broad sense of the word that- I believe it is safe to say- virtually everybody thinks of when they here “oh, she’s a real success!” is almost comparable to perfection. It is when a person’s career takes off at an alarming rate and earns them thousands, maybe millions. This broad definition is more of the tangible sense of the word.
If my own intuition had any say, though, I would define success as more of a sentiment. I could feel success after running the mile, getting into a school, or having an impact on someone- enough that they becoming a vegan as well. In my mind, it isn’t all about how well you do for yourself (although that matters too), but how what you do makes you feel. For example, I judge my rate of success on my environment. What someone else sees as a success, I see as a failure. Let’s say that I got a 1700 on my SATs, most CP people- as I am- would see that as a success. Assuming they are with the 1600 is average scale, of course, while I am on my own scale. I see anything in the 2000s as successful and 1000s a loss. Needless to say, I have high expectations of myself. This very well is a flaw, but it is all in how I was raised. From grade school up, I was always called smart, wonderful, and looked at as the genius or smarty pants of my family. I feel like I have to live up to that or what title does that leave me with? My standard of “success” is not perfection, but among it.
Yes, I do see it as there being a few “levels” of success. There’s basic success, which is the broad definition of success; the tangible one. That’s at the most basic end, next up on the “pyramid” is scholarly success. At the pinnacle, you will find psychological success. For example, someone finds a nice husband, a comfortable home, and maybe some children and that makes them blissful. I think those are the main three.
In order for me, personally, to feel successful I would need to fulfill my aspirations or goals in life. If I were to get into my dream college- which I acknowledge is quite a reach- I would finally be at ease with my test scores and be proud. If I adopt children and still can afford a mortgage, I will feel super successful in helping save young lives from desensitization (is that a word?).
Morgan C-
Obviously, I agree with your agreeing with MS. Bunje that there are totally different views on success in the world. I think that is the only thing I can conclusively agree with you on though. I like how you said “A successful person is someone who can meet these high standards they set, and they are happy in what they do”, though. I don’t completely agree because the connotation of it comes off just a little different than what I said, but I like the way you collected it all into on sentence, whereas I took a few sentences to describe that idea.
I consider myself to be a well rounded person. I have many interests and aspirations. Unfortunately this makes choosing a major/career/field almost impossible. One day I want to be a lawyer, the next day I want to be in an art career, by Friday I'll have want to been a business women, astronaut, and photographer. It's been difficult while researching colleges because I have yet to find a balance between the worlds.
What makes me so hesitant to high-powered-long-hour-jobs, like attorney and business, is the amount of unhappy people I hear residing in those fields. Associates who work twelve hour days, weekends, and never take vacations. It seems like many never have time for family or fun. Part of my draw to these careers is the money and prestige that comes with the corner office; but what's so great about having money if you can't enjoy it?
To me, success is happiness. If you're driving a toyota, and not a Lexus, but you're singing to the radio with a big grin, verses the Lexus owners scowl and silent radio, or worse bluetooth, I'd say you're successful.
I judge myself by my own happiness. At the end of a day I can determine how successful it was by how badly I want the last bell to ring. If I'm having a good day, I'm relaxed in no rush, on bad day's I'm watching the clock praying the hand will skip twenty minutes ahead.
One confession of mine is that I also tend to rely on other people to determine my own success. If I was to get up in front of a room, present a project, sit down, and hear no one clap, I would deem myself a failure. i spent a lot of time in drama plays and musicals in my earlier year, and as a result I've became reliant on other people's opinions. To an actor other people opinions are necessary to success. From the director to fellow cast members. The audience's response, for example, is a measure of success. No claps equals failure, standing ovation equals success.
Hayley----
"When I’m on my death bed, gasping for my last few gulps of air, I want to have no regrets. I want to know that I lived a happy and full life....It doesn’t matter how much money you have, how big your house is, or how many cars you have in your driveway. All the riches of the kings end up in wills, anyway"
I loved your first paragraph, it was dramatic and vivid, but realistic. I agree with you that at the end of the road it's not the riches, but the memories that matter most.
"Pity the man who inherits a million and isn't a millionaire.Here's what would be pitiful,if your income grew and you didn't. "
Jim Rohn
I think most of our responses will end up being similar since I'm sure most of us associate success not with money, but other things like meeting our goals and being happy with our lives. It would be pretty shallow of anyone to associate success with money, although for some reason the word 'success' immediately is yoked with money, and unintentionally evokes its image.
My definition of success is: being satisfied with the decisions you've made, who you've become, and where your life has ended up. If you find yourself content with all three, then man, you are a success! Money CAN have something to do with success, but it IS not success.
the hallmarks of a successful person: aspiration, determination, perseverance, and desire.
As for how I judge whether or not I myself am successful...well, i look around me; at my friends, my family, none of which hate me. then at MYSELF of course; things i've achieved and just my life in general. I am a very happy and content person, so God damn it, I'M SUCCESSFUL!
There are indubitably different levels AND measures of importance tied to those levels: one can be successful at passing a test, or memorizing their declamation and flawlessly presenting it in front of the class. then again, one can be successful at finding their soul mate, having great kids, or getting their dream job. there are obvious significance that exist among these different types of successes that i've listed. the first few are not as important as the last few that i listed, but even the not-so-important little successes add up to your one big successful life.
in order to be successful, you need to have met your goals, have people that you've charmed into loving you, and have a life that you stand proud of. you don't have to own anything in order to be successful, if you ask me. the qualities possesed by a successful person does not require him to own anything.
in order to see yourself as a success, your goals should be met, and your aspirations reached.
Caitlin M:
"One confession of mine is that I also tend to rely on other people to determine my own success. If I was to get up in front of a room, present a project, sit down, and hear no one clap, I would deem myself a failure."
you know, i think we all do this, and surprisingly enough, it didn't even occur to me until i read what you wrote. I guess same can be said for how we rely on teachers to determine our success by how they grade us...it was a very interesting point to bring up:)
To me, success is defined by how far a person is able to distance themselves in a positive way from their original starting point. If a person starts out poverty stricken, comes from an uneducated family, and has everything working against him but still ends up making something, anything, of himself, he has had success. On the other hand, if a person is born with a silver spoon in his mouth, never having to do much more than survive and coast off of the previous generation’s hard work, then he hasn’t had much success, even if his bank account says otherwise.
A successful person has earned or gained something of value that can be shared with others. Once this has occurred, he is successful in my eyes. This valuable can be knowledge, hard earned wealth, or anything that he has gained on his own due to hard work and perseverance through even the most trying times. Success to me is having something to give to others who are not at a point in their lives where they themselves can give.
Of course money is usually associated with success, but this is not always the case. Like I’ve said before, those who are handed money and don’t do much to affect the world are not successful in my eyes. They haven’t grasped the meaning of true success if all they are concerned with is their own well-being. Of course we all would like to end up successful with money and be able to provide for ourselves and perhaps a family, but that success isn’t always going to equate to how much money we have. Success can be on an emotional level, too. If a person is comfortable with himself, is genuinely a good person and has respect for those around him, he is successful people-wise. A lot of people never get any success with other people, so I think this could be considered one of the levels of success if accomplished. I feel like not as much emphasis is put on this aspect of personal success. Too much value is placed on money and glamour and not enough on the value of a good person in society. One example I can think of is how professional athletes get paid millions and millions of dollars for nothing more than entertainment, while a doctor makes a measly percent of that (of course doctors get paid well compared with other professions, but still..). I’m probably digressing, but that is something that has baffled me. Putting more value on a good show than saving and improving lives seems out of whack. I’m probably digressing..
Success is something we all strive for. Our goals are our own and that’s what is important to keep in mind. There will always be people who are disappointed with you and wished you had done better or chosen a different path than the end result. But in the end, if you are happy with yourself and happy with the decisions you have made, then you are successful. Happiness is success. The more happiness you can spread and share, the more success you will see. At least that’s how I see it as of now from my seventeen year old eyes.
Like so many other things, I think that success is a completely subjective concept, one that all depends on a particular person’s life philosophy. My definition could be completely different from Jordan’s definition which could differ entirely from Fiona’s, and so on and so forth. As for what I think success is, however, it’s hard to say. I don’t see success as a noun, but a verb, rather; the act of achieving rather than the achievement itself. I guess the end result does play a part in determining success, but I think a person can be successful without achieving their goals. It’s how they go about attempting them that really sets them apart. I don't care whether you wait tables or you're the President of the United States, it's how you go about doing you're job that makes you successful.
In determining whether or not a person is successful, I look at the means by which they got where they are. Someone could be the CEO of a company but be lazy and dishonest, and they aren’t successful in my book. But if the janitor in that same company cleans those bathroom floors till they shine, now he is the one deserving of the title. A job doesn’t define a person; neither does his social status. It’s all about what they’re made up of in the end; that’s the stuff that really matters. Whether you’re a WHO associate or a landscaper, everyone has the potential to be successful in their own way.
I don’t think that there are different levels of success- either you are or you aren’t. It’s as simple as that.
As far as how I can become a success, I’m still trying to figure that one out. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I want to do and who I want to be when I grow up, and that person is changing rapidly. Whenever asked, I tell people that I want to be an international economic theorist (“I want to major in international affairs and double minor in Chinese language and economic policy”), but I think the only people who know what I’d TRULY love to do are myself, my family, and maybe Jordan (he probably doesn’t remember, loser). In order for me to consider myself a success, I’d have to find the balls to just do what I love to do rather than what I should be doing.
Mo and Dev-
You guys kinda had the same ideas that I did, except you said it a lot clearer. You can't be successful unless you do what you love.
Dev, I loved your last paragraph. You seem to have it all together and I loved your well thought out little plan to make yourself the best you can be. If everyone thought about the little things that put together lead to success like you do, our world would be a better, more successful place. How can you go wrong knowing all these secret, yet very obvoius, keys? :)
When a lot of people think of success, mainly idiots who gorge themselves in the material items around them or are just people who are plain ignorant about life, they think of the multi-millionaire who started from scratch, or that idiot Donald Trump who can go bankrupt twelve times and not be effected at all. To me, can be as far from that as imaginable. When it comes down to it, I believe success is when someone achieves what ever they want in life, and in the end are happy. It all comes down to the man who can truly step back and say to himself that he is happy with his life and there’s nothing he can do different. It does not matter if the man has money, or if the man has power, or if the man has all the valuables in the world. It comes down to what the man truly has that he loves. If that comes in the form of financial success, which unfortunately can very well be the case, then let the man who turns rich be happy. A lot of the times, and personally for myself, it would come in the form of ideals and even love at it’s basis. Personally, if I had a loving family I could love and support, I would consider myself successful with just that.
Judgment of success cannot come from any outside force. No matter what anyone says to you, the only one who can tell if your happy is yourself. The judgment of that factor is based soul around the person trying to succeed. No matter what you set out to do, no one has the right to tell you if you succeeded or not. If in your mind, by the standards that you hold for yourself and your definition of success, you believe that you were successful then no one can tell you were not. You could completely fail at your goals but if you believe that you gained something and are happy where your at, then maybe you really did meet success.
The only thing you really need to feel successful is the happiness. If your happy with what happened or what you did, well then how can you say you lost? That spark of satisfaction you get when you feel you’ve done something is the only standard I would set as successful. Every other sign comes at your own discretion. The only thing that really needs to happen to know you have achieved would be how happy you are. True success will be intertwined with true happiness.
I usually like to have a recipe for everything, for myself , for friendship, the works. Yet, when it comes to the topic of success I have long been without. To pinpoint on success, I had to think long and hard back to the events in which I thought of myself as successful. When I thought about it every time I’ve considered myself a success it was because I was satisfied with myself. Satisfaction is a huge part of success, because if you are not happy or impressed with something you did then how can you consider it a success? Like today I finished a math take home, that I thought was going to be impossible. I did it in the class period and did it all by myself. I was proud of myself, it was to me a success. A small success but in the scheme of my day I was excited about that. I was satisfied with my actions that I had taken the time and used it productively. When I’m being productive I usually consider it a successful day because of that joy and that satisfaction I feel from accomplishing things.
I truly judge myself on my productivity. If my day was a bust, and I basically slumped around for a school day I feel like a failure. When I come home, and my mom asks me what exciting things happened in my day, and I give a sheepish, “nothing” for an answer I feel unsuccessful. I feel like that day was just filler, and too many filler days are unproductive and unsatisfying. I want to go out there and do something. My ultimate goal is to make something of myself. What that something is I am not yet sure of but that satisfaction that I will, and the pure joy will be the real success. A person has to have goals to have success. It all has to do with drive in my mind. Determination and setting standards brings one to a place where they can feel good about themselves, to feel a level of success that overrides every other feeling. My productivity is how close I come to reaching my goals.
I do feel there are little successes and great big ones too but I feel it is all gauged on the enormity of the task, and the after feeling. The after feeling is like an after taste to me. You sometimes determine that a food is or isn’t good by its after taste, I think it’s the same with success. If you have a good, lengthy satisfied feeling about something it is a success. Otherwise you’re feeling cold and empty, and that isn’t success. Success generates bliss, and genuine happiness. A feeling isn’t real, nor is it success, if the feeling isn’t genuine.
I see the future as one big question mark, but to be successful I will have to live a satisfying, happy life. I don’t know today what will make me happy tomorrow but I will be fairly happy to find a fulfilling job, that doesn’t leave me cold at the end of the day. I will also be successful if I surround myself with people I love, and who love me. This means friends, family, and maybe one day a family of my own. I need nothing but my own personality to get to a successful state. Not that I’m perfect, but I think that I will need to be myself to satisfy myself in any job, and the people that love me should love me for who I am. I try hard to be who I am, and to figure out who that is. I think eventually one day it will start to fall into place, but my productivity, and my proactivieness is going to determine how it actually plays out. I just want to be a happy person, the rest is just minor details.
This blog happens to be a coincidence because recently my mom gave me a simple piece of white paper with the title Five Simple Rules to Be Happy. I said, “Hey why the heck not, I mean what do I have to lose!” The paper states,
1. Free your heart from hatred
2. Free your mind from worries
3. Live simply
4. Give more
5. Expect less
My overall outlook on success for a life would be through happiness. I believe that happiness is success. All of the things in life that it takes to be happy are what lead to the ultimate success. The perspective that you have on happiness defines how you would achieve the success. So what is happiness to me? Happiness is loving myself, happiness is being able to think of others before myself, happiness is ridding my heart of the hate I have, and happiness is living for the beauty of life. Happiness in my perspective is the five simple rules that define my success in life. A successful person has lived life knowing that they have achieved happiness. In my eyes success has no measures. There are endless amounts of happiness and I think that you can never judge another person’s success. However they achieve their success in life is their own joy that is proof of their success.
In one of my favorite shows there was a scene that stood out to me and it spoke of happiness. The character Lucas says, “Happiness comes in many forms -- in the company of good friends, in the feeling you get when you make someone else's dream come true, or in the promise of hope renewed. It's okay to let yourself be happy because you never know how fleeting that happiness might be”. There is something to be said about the emotions involved in happiness. How true happiness makes your soul brighten and how you feel as though you are free. I love the fact that in this quote happiness is stated as fleeting. The words were taken out of my mouth. Nothing else can put happiness into the perspective of knowing how fleeting it can be.
Happiness plays a major role in my personal success. The success that I have had throughout my life is a part of my story but it does not define who I am. All of my achievements and goals reached count as successes. The levels of success vary in my life. My definition of success has altered in years and as I have seen life differently I believe that I have taken stepping stones towards my newfound definition. Every part of my past experiences in success have led to this new goal in life. The goal is happiness. Not just to be happy with a smile on my face but the through the five simple rules.
I can honestly say that my success has never come down to the materialistic side. The success I want to achieve is through happiness. To see myself as a success I will love being where I am in life and living in full happiness. I am well aware that I cannot be happy all of the time but there is something about having the happiness inside at all times that makes success. This happiness does not depend on others and remains in my heart no matter where life takes me.
Tarah-
“Happiness is success.”
WOW haha I have the same exact line in my blog and after reading yours I thought it was great to have the same views as someone else. I feel like there is nothing that could be more straightforward and makes greater sense then defining happiness as success.
ALice-
Levels of success=how happy you are.
The happier you are, the more successful you are in life.
Plain and simple.
Thats really the best way to put everything, its claer and to the point. Happiness does determine success and vice versa. I also agree that owning things doesn't really have a correlation. It is exactly what you called it, just clutter. I really enjoyed your blog this week.
(have to post in two parts)
What is success? Is it monetary gain? Getting straight A’s on a report card? Is something completely different? Or is a combination of them all? I, truthfully, am not sure I know. As Devon said, “success is in the eye of the beholder,” and I can only say what success means to me, which is probably the best way to leave it. For me success has nothing to do with the money you make or the rank you achieve in high school or college. While they are great little achievements, they don’t mark success. I think that I could be the richest, smartest person in the world, but if I don’t have happiness, none of the work required to achieve those “statuses” was worth my time. Therefore, my definition of true success is achieving your goals while still being happy.
A successful person doesn’t have to come in the form of a CEO or the next Bill Gates; most of the success people I know are middle-class, average, hard-working citizens who love their job. How can a stressful, aggravating, and headache-causing profession possibly be considered a success? If you want to rip the hair from your head everyday, you may want to think again before calling yourself successful. But if these are what a successful person isn’t, then what are they? Well, once again they are happy, they enjoy their career, they have enough money to purchase necessities and enjoy luxuries occasionally. They have listened to their heart and accomplished their dreams, not anyone else’s. Of course, these are only minimum’s, if you love your job and get rich doing it, then by all means, you are definitely successful. The only time success “disappears”, in my eyes, is when one of those qualities goes MIA.
For me, my success is definitely mediated by grades, as I am, and probably will forever be, a grade “superfreak”. I tend to use my grades as a measure of how well I have mastered the material and as an indicator for my weaknesses. Often, though, I take it beyond that and become somewhat obsessive. This, while I never really realized it, causes great stress and unhappiness. So, school wise, it is not only how good and bad I do but what I do with the bad. If I get irritated and let it consume me, I have failed. But, if I learn from it, improve, and better myself, then I have truly succeeded.
(part two)
As for different levels of success, I feel that you can only have one level of success. First, success can’t be compared to others. No one can say, “Ha, ha! I’m more successful than you…” and ramble off a list of accomplishments because everyone has a different idea of success. So what if you are a rock star and make millions of dollars, I have a family, a wife, and a job I love. It is different for everyone because their goals and values are different. Intrapersonally, success never plateaus, therefore there can’t be different levels; it just continues to grow. Success is like the never-ending staircase in Mario 64. Just as it continues on and on and on indefinitely, so does our dream of success. Every step up we take, another one appears to takes its place. But just like Mario, after you collected all of the stars (metaphor for doing everything in your life) then you can finally reach the end of the staircase, happy, knowing you’ve done everything. Simply put success is not like levels in a building, but more like a staircase that continues to force you to reach one step farther, until you’ve done everything you’ve wanted.
For me, I don’t think success can be measure in monetary or materials possessions. It is obviously nice to have those things, but for me it is not the be-all-to-end-all. I want to have long-lasting friendships, fostered from good feelings, I want to help others, spread my knowledge, however limited, and do my part to bring good to the world, and I want to know that I did everything in my power to live my life to the fullest, doing what I wanted. That knowledge is what will make me feel successful. Money, merely says I found the right job at the right time and any good at it, it doesn’t mean anything else.
In order for me to see myself as a success, I need to look back every so often and see that along my journey, I am living and enjoying life. I need to create friendships and relationships that can last a lifetime. I need to find a job I love doing, and would be devastated to lose. Lastly, I need to be able to look inside myself and overall see that my life has made an impact in some positive way. Mondo Moula, a high, honored position, and fame would all be great but they aren’t my main concern; if I am happy, I think that will be enough.
Alice: I have to disagree with your statment that more catigories makes for a better statement. I think your simpler definition is much more sensible, and much easier to follow.
Shoo-weee, those are some loaded questions.
Honestly, I've never specifically thought about it- success, the outlined plan for success, the goals set to ensure success, etc. I think "success" is interesting because it is unique to every person, because every person has a different definition of success. This could either be a good thing or a terrible thing. Some people's definition of success is so out-of-reach and far- fetched, they will live their lives in disappointment and frustration. C'est ridicule, n'est pas?
My definition of greeeeeeeat successsssss (Borat) is happiness. It doesn't matter if you are a million-dollar maker C.E.O. or a bum on the street. As long as you are content with yourself and your situation, there is a measure of success in it. Again, it depends on the person. If a person is in love with money, and makes a lot of it, he/she is successful in their mind. Personally, my success will come with the advancement of knowledge. I don't think I'll want a high-paying job to be considered "successful." As long as I'm happy and successful at bettering myself and my mind, then I would be happy. To acquire this success, I would need an open mind and a voracious appetite to learn. Sometimes I know I can be lazy and not want to do it, but I know it will help me in the long run.
What types of things need to happen in order to see myself as a success? Hmm... I need to graduate college. I would need a job that kept my curiosity. I wouldn't consider myself a success unless I used my brain. I would be a success if I'm happy. That's what it comes down to.
Success is not a word that has a one-size-fits-all definition. There is no barometer that shows you when you have reached a level that can be considered succesful. Unfortunately, society does its best to label success, to make it a concrete thing that can be measured in dollars and square feet. How often do we see "succesful" millionaires and celebrities fall into drug abuse and crime, miserably wasting their blessed lives away? No, success is not a tangible thing. Success is something that is felt, and each of us gives the word our own unique connotation. Personally, I feel succesful and accomplished when I can truthfully say that I did the best I could. In sports, for instance, successes and failures are most often determined in the Win/Loss column. But, as an Oakcrest athlete who more often than not ends up on the losing end, I can not view every loss as a failure. Losing efforts often prove to teach us more about ourselves and how to improve than constant victories. Really, we ultimately become successful through our failures, because such adversity forces us to overcome obstacles we never thought we could while discovering character we never knew we had. Beating the odds, breaking down the walls, those are the things that help us attain our potential. And really, is there any greater success than fulfilling your potential?
While being the best I can be is crucial to my personal success, there is another, more important aspect to success. It can be seen on the faces of all successful people. It is a twinlke in the eye, an upward curve of the lips, a beaming smile. Happiness, for me (and a lot of you guys as well) defines success. The way I see it, the poorest man in the world could be more succesful than the richest. It's really all a matter of perspective, of appreciating the beauty and blessings around us. A beggar on the streets could find immense happiness in a stranger's generosity. Families may struggle to provide, yet loving each other nonetheless is a success in itself. Meanwhile, people who have everything they could ever need and more are often never satisfied, always looking for something else, be it a new car, a new boat, to make them appear succesful. All they are really doing though is substituting temporary enjoyment for permanent happiness.
My hope is that someday I will achieve this type of success. While I may write about not needing material things to be successful, there is a part of me that feels like nothing could make me happier than riding a brand new jet ski at some huge lake house. There are moments in my life when I am fully appreciative of all that I have, but not nearly enough. Having two parents and six siblings who all love each other is more than many people could even dream of, yet sometimes I disregard them, wishing for something better. Acheiving success through happiness and overcoming obstacles is something I want to achieve not for a few moments, but permanently.
I'm not successful right now...... :/
When most think of a successful person, they vision someone with a huge house, fancy cars and most of all, money. One definition of success is actually, “impressive achievement, especially the attainment of fame, wealth, or power.” However, this PROBABLY doesn't seem like success in someone else’s eyes. Success can come in many shapes and sizes in almost anything we do. The only difference between one person’s success and the next is the goal that was set.
My definition of success would be finding happiness in achieving one’s goals. When you think about it, you set goals that you want to reach because they will make you happy. So, you achieve your goals (hopefully!) that make you happy, therefore you are successful.
A successful person is obviously happy, but also, excels at what they do and uses it to better the world in even the slightest way. The skills and talents they have gained by working hard in achieving their goal should be put towards something useful. Whether it be creating a cure for cancer or donating your best painting to a children’s museum for them to admire; it all makes the world a better place.
I judge my personal success on whether I feel what I’m doing right now is or will make me happy in life. For example, I don’t plan on going much farther with soccer after college because I have other things in mind and frankly, I don’t think my body could take anymore of a beating after that. But I play right now because it makes me happy. And, school may not make me over joyous, but I know if I do my best, the outcome should be in my favor.
Daily, I work towards always improving in school, in soccer and in my relationships with people. School is extremely important for my future where I am learning information that should help me into a steady career. Soccer keeps me fit and in a good, competitive mood all day long. And, creating special bonds early will ensure that I will always have someone to turn to when I’m in any sort of trouble. Succeeding in these very broad categories is basically what will, right now and in the future, make me truly happy.
I don’t believe there are really levels of success because success can be present in a variety of different circumstances that are in no way related. A student may feel the greatest success is getting straight As, while another may think making the winning touchdown is the best it can get. But who’s to say which is better or on a higher level?
Everyone’s goals are different, even for the same situation. One’s success isn’t any more or less important than someone else’s.
To see yourself as a success, you need to be confident and believe in yourself 100%. Anything less will get you nowhere. That is the most important thing. When you’re in front of the net, rip it. Don’t hesitate and waste the .3482374 seconds you have to shoot before you get hammered. Trust yourself and take the chance. What have you got to lose.
All you really need to be successful is the will and determination to do whatever it takes to get there. That is absolutely it.
"Levels of success=how happy you are.
The happier you are, the more successful you are in life.
Plain and simple."
Alice, while I don't know that I think more happiness=higher levels of success, I definitely agree happiness is the premise of success. As my rather confusing Mario 64 metaphor attempts to say, I think success is a continuous challenge, instead of levels, it is just a growing ladder that is all part of the same, ever-growing ladder of success, the bottom of which is happiness.
Hilary
I love your definition of success, and of course the Borat reference doesn't hurt either. I completely agree that being content and happy are two major components to success. Oh, and of course we both used C.E.O's as examples :)Oh, and when are reunited the bees of the Synergetic Six?
Success is the act of succeeding. The opposite of failure. Yep. And anybody reading a dictionary with a definition like that just realized they spent too much money on firewood.
You could say that we’ve all met success through our everyday life. After all, despite all the mistakes we may, or fear making, we have just as many good moments. Those moments of, well, excuse the redundancy, succeeding are individual successes. But I guess the word has a wider connotation, one of great things. True success is a conglomerate of these small successes. When we have enough, or complete what we view as the most important of these small successes, I guess we can say we succeeded in life, that is, until we find more, or we want to go further.
I guess what I’m saying, after succeeding to be redundant, is that success is a building process. We succeed in some things, that are parts of another thing, till we eventually theoretically succeed in “everything”. This, in a way, makes the poorest and the richest both able to reach success. When they reach their specific goals at the time, they have succeeded. And it is the same for me.
Success isn’t completely based upon money , objects, or the amount of mechanical doodads and thingamajigs you own. Though the latter does sound very cool. Having all the time and money in the world to spend all my days playing videogames is nice, but instead of working to become rich, I could simply take a pilgrimage to my basement. Simply put, at least to me, being rich isn’t all that much of a priority in my list of things in succeeding in doing. I like nice things. I have spent a thousand on computers and their parts. I don’t need no stinkin’ mansion. Though I’d say, buying those success books seem like a good investment. They look like they burn a lot better than dictionaries. Wonder if cheap marketing ploys affect the color of flames.
I’d say that what I need to succeed is a secret, but frankly, I can’t think of enough about it to waste 100 words. Ahem. Going by what I view as success, no matter how probably heat-stroke induced it was, I have already succeeded in some ways. There are so many more things to do however. I will always view myself as succeeding t some extent, perhaps until it becomes so futile that I start believing that I’ve completely failed. Don’t expect that to happen though, because it’s unlikely. Simply a possibility. I mean, what could I do? Buy books for fire wood, and then realize that my fireplace is a fake gas powered one? How preposterous!
Hmmm...I guess I'd have my own personal library then.
"1. Free your heart from hatred
2. Free your mind from worries
3. Live simply
4. Give more
5. Expect less"
...says Meagan Lee.
Wow. That makes a whole heck of a lot of sense. I love your mom. It seems to be a recurring theme that happiness goes hand in hand with success.
Amen to that.
My clean-cut definition, success is simply the positive result of a challenge, a goal, or the sum of one's life actions.
Whenever I hear the word "success," I always feel obliged to utter Eminem: "Success is my only motherfucking option; failure's not". I know I already mentioned this in last week's blog, but I will scream that all the time. See, I'm big on winning. I'm a competitor and I do whatever it takes to succeed. I like to succeed athletically, academically, and any other way I can think of. But unlike probably everyone else who posted, I don't necessarily feel that success has any sort of emotional baggage to it. I can succeed in a homework assignment, I can succeed in a softball game, I can succeed at a job, or I can succeed in a relationship. I don't have to "love" or "enjoy" what I'm succeeding in. The only part that determines whether I'm successful, however, is if I was challenged. I won't label myself a "success" if I didn't have to try for what I accomplished.
For example, I do not love Calculus. At all. I do not enjoy Calculus. At all. However, I take it because of how difficult it is. When I get my AP exam grades back in July, and find out I got a 3 or 4 on that exam, I consider that a success. I worked my ass off for that class, despite what I may have shown during the actual class period =D. And yes, I did just use math as an example.
I guess I shouldn't have said success doesn't have any emotional baggage. In a way, I yearn for success because of the feeling I get. It's not happiness, but I guess that can sometimes happen, but instead it's a feeling of satisfaction. I don't have much self-confidence, but when I succeed at something, I love to indulge myself with that moment because it actually makes me feel worthy.
I definitely believe there are different levels of success. Since I think there are so many things one can succeed in, there has to be a labeled worth of which are the most admirable and which are simply mere accomplishments. Back to my math example, I do not consider that a major form of success. While I did succeed, I wouldn't even compare that to, say, winning a championship softball game.
I don't believe you can succeed if you lose. To some, just "trying your best" is a form of succeeding. But to me, failure is failure. I don't care if in a softball game, I went 3-for-3, had 5 throw-outs at home and a diving catch. If overall we lost the game, I would not consider that to be a success.
Meg Lee
"My overall outlook on success for a life would be through happiness. I believe that happiness is success"
Looking through the posts so far, I've noticed a pattern in almost everyone's responses, that like you said, happiness is success. I like how you said success has no measures. That gave the perfect wording to my thoughts.
Success, for me, is happiness. And I'm done in five words. Dang. I need more. To elaborate further, and make it an equation to make it sciencey, *puts top hat and monocle on* Success is the point where the equation (HT-BsT)A reaches an absolute minimum. Where S is success, H is happiness, A is accomplishment, t is time, and I think you can figure out what Bs means. Essentially, for you math-haters out there, Success is when Happiness is greatest and lasts longest compared to the nonsense I have to put up with in the same time period, multiplied by all I accomplish in that period. And when that reaches a point where I can only get a better happiness:BS ratio, I consider that success.
I once read something that referred to the most significant man on earth on the cosmic scale. The essence of it was that even the President, even a historic one like Obama, is one watery speck, sitting on a larger speck, which is merely orbiting a larger, hotter speck, which is orbiting a smaller, heavier speck, which is pulling a trillion specks along with it flying very quickly towards something beyond where the farthest-looking speck we have can see. Anything in this is insignificant. Even the sun, massive by our primitive standards, is merely a plaything to the gods. And this is especially true with the world as it is now when the greatest man in the world could, to paraphrase Alan Moore, end up the greatest man on the cinder with the press of a button. And hence, not much is worth living for than making the greatest number of people happy, for the greatest period of time, while putting the lowest number of people through as little crap as possible for the shortest period of time. And when you can achieve this balance effortlessly, as we all hopefully reach at some point in our lives, we've achieved success.
And the best part about this, whether it entails giving your estate to charity a la Andrew Carnegie, or dying the richest man in the world the way some people would like, is that it relies on no standard other than what you define as happiness. With more happiness and less things that irritate, annoy, or frustrate you, your life is better by almost any standard, and those two factors alone provide a fairly good baseline for where you want to end up. Accomplishment is included solely because no matter how much BS you have to put up with, if you accomplish something great enough, it can all end up worth it. A la MLK. I would consider his life a success given what he accomplished, even with the whole getting shot thing. Yes that does count as BS.
@Everyone: Happiness seems to be a driving factor for the lot of us, as well as individual definitions. I blame Costal, that dirty transcendentalist.
@Linds: 'I just want to be a happy person, the rest is just minor details.' Amen sister. No matter where we go, as long as we're happy, the how and why are inconsequential.
Erik-- "My hope is that someday I will achieve this type of success. While I may write about not needing material things to be successful, there is a part of me that feels like nothing could make me happier than riding a brand new jet ski at some huge lake house. There are moments in my life when I am fully appreciative of all that I have, but not nearly enough. Having two parents and six siblings who all love each other is more than many people could even dream of, yet sometimes I disregard them, wishing for something better. Acheiving success through happiness and overcoming obstacles is something I want to achieve not for a few moments, but permanently."
I think 99% of all people feel that same way. While people love to say they don't need material things, they wish they didn't exist, that they're fully appreciative of everything they have, they're most likely lying. We wish to have material things in our lives because we want what we can't have, or we want what others have, or we want to be entertained. And there's really no problem with that. Know that you can be happy without those things, but don't think you don't deserve them.
Tarah--
"To me, success is defined by how far a person is able to distance themselves in a positive way from their original starting point. If a person starts out poverty stricken, comes from an uneducated family, and has everything working against him but still ends up making something, anything, of himself, he has had success. On the other hand, if a person is born with a silver spoon in his mouth, never having to do much more than survive and coast off of the previous generation’s hard work, then he hasn’t had much success, even if his bank account says otherwise."
First of all, amazing first paragraph. I believe you hit the idea of success right on the head. Not to mention, you worded it very well.
It's important to realize that succeeding really is moving forward, in any way, shape or form. But if you've always had things handed to you, it really can't get better than that, so you don't go anywhere! The funny thing-- you can really tell the difference between these types of people because there are so many traits that are present in one and not the other. For instance dependability, of course.......so, I agree with you 100% :).
When I first looked at this post, I immediately wanted to say something
corny, like: success is getting out of bed and surviving the day in
order to get back into it. And as I thought about it, pondering as I
do when permitted about what I wanted to say, I came to realize that
for several years of my life, that was actually true. There were days
in my life, indeed times rather, that if I lived to actually see my bed
again, to once again dream and hope that there would be a tomorrow, I
had been successful.
As I have mentioned before, I was not the healthiest child when I was
younger and at times, between medical trails and trips and stays at
various hospitals and the like, merely living through the day was a
great accomplishment, more so then I think most people would realize.
There were several occasions when I was thoroughly convinced that I was
not going to see the next morning. Those were the days that I could
really, truly say that merely surviving was a great success. But as I
have gotten older (and thankfully healthier, knock on wood) I have now
been able to strive for something else, to actually get the chance to
decided that there are limits and goals in my life and a chance to
actually try for some form of success passed what my low goals had
been. That in and of itself I find to be a minor success, though I
doubt many would be able to see it that way.
But what I will say about success and how it should be viewed is this:
we can never judge our success by the success of others. We all have
been dealt a unique set of cards for our card game, a set that we are
unable to trade in and are unable to fold and it is with this set, this
one hand, that we can determine what our success really is. Some
people are dealt with a full house and things come to these blessed and
privileged players fairly easily, but that does not make them
successful, just fortunate. It is clearly apparent that life is easy
for these people, but not successful, because these people have to
actually go out of their way to strive toward success. What they
inherit is not a measure of their success, of what they have been able
to get out of life. It is only when these people try to play blind and
bother to believe that there is a hand out there in the game that is
better than theirs are they able to truly attempt to gain a win,
otherwise it is simply too easy and not worth the effort.
part two:
And then there are the people, the players, that have been given the
weakest, fragging hands imaginable. These are the hands that in a real
match get folded before the game even starts, the hands that SUCK
beyond all reasonable ends. For these people, success may as well
being the fact that they even bothered to get up in the morning because
they simply have nothing to really live for; their hands really are
that bad. But there are times, if they are willing to bluff and play
with their wits rather than their hands, with their skill rather than
the cards at their disposal, that even they are able to beat out those
that were born with better hands, even those born under the signs of a
full house.
That is some mighty fine success if I may say so myself.
I would personally have to say that I have been dealt a rather decent
hand of cards in my life, a hand that I could actually do nearly
anything with if I try hard enough, it just all adds up to whether or
not I actually WANT to try my hand or not. Which is my overall problem
as a person: I have limitless potential (as my parents are always
eager to point out to me at the very moment I seem to slip even the
slightest from the path THEY have chosen for me) but I simply do not
have any of the drive to do anything with it. You see, I don't really
have too many goals for me or my life at this point and I doubt that I
ever will. I'm much more of a "That's nice dear, now go show Daddy"
kind of person than a "Holy Crap! I've slept in five minutes, I've got
to get out a freaking DO something" sort of person. I don't really
have these big DREAMS that everyone else seems to posses, and I suppose
that makes it a tad harder for me to be successful, at least it their
eyes.
I don't and won't count success by grades and pay and trivial things
like that. I won't count it by how much I'll impact the world or those
around me. I sure as hell won't count it by the prizes I've won and the
various gifts and prizes I might receive. And I know that I won't count
my success by silly ideas, like graduating high school and going to a
prestigious college. There are a lot of assholes out there that
believe if you've never gone to college you're a failure, that if you
don't really care about people's rights and issues of the season like
gay marriage or animal cruelty or politics that you're a failure.
yeah, there are a lot of assholes that believe if you don't achieve
their established prerequisites you're trash and worth near to scape.
I say that assholes surround themselves with other assholes and
together create an ideal society of fucktards that I do not want to be
a part of in the least. But please, pardon my french, of course.
Success without happiness is a failure. A person may be a millionaire living a miserable life yet still be completely unsuccessful. Success cannot be determined by wealth, power, or by anything else. It can merely be judged by the level of happiness in a person’s life. The key to living a successful, meaningful life is being happy with the decisions you make. As simple a concept this may be, living life without happiness is a life without success. Many people, not necessarily those of you who will be reading this, would define a person’s success by the fatness of their wallets, the size of their cars, or the square footage of their house. However what these people fail to realize is that success is not even remotely relevant to any of these things.
To me being successful is about being happy and content with the decisions you make in your life and ultimately the life you live. A successful person has a career he enjoys, a family that is loving and there for him. These, to me at least, are the things that I see as success. These are what I hope to achieve in my lifetime and are things that come to mind when I picture success. While these things are things I wish to achieve later in life that does not necessarily mean that I am not successful as of right now. In my teenage life there are other things that I can achieve that make me a successful youth.
As for myself I believe I am successful, all of us are successful. We all work had in school and strive to achieve good grades in order to better ourselves for later in life. Whether it be because we wish to go to college, or simply to expand our minds. You see not only is success how happy a person is but also what he accomplishes for the sake of themselves, not for financial gain or other selfish reasons. Everyone in this class is successful and will continue to be successful throughout our lives. Most of us, if not all of us, will attend college after high school where we will continue to expand our minds through higher education. Hopefully we will continue on to careers that both benefit us and the world around us. For these things are truly what make people successful.
Due to the fact that there is no gauge, meter, or counter to directly measure the level of a person’s success, the level of success a person accomplishes depends on each individual person. No one can measure the level of success of anybody else because we do not know the inner workings of other people’s minds. Levels of success are dependent upon each individual person because success is based off of what individuals wish to accomplish in life. What I think of as successful is not necessarily what other people may see as successful.
Part Three:
If I graduate high school with out trying to tear all the a-holes I see
a new one, I've been successful.
If I make it to college and stay for at least four years- degree or no-
I have been successful.
If I can get my motorcycle and my video camera and go cross country, I
have been successful.
If I get one German shepherd and get to name him Sayid, I have been
successful.
If I finish writing one of my books and can get one other person to
read it cover to cover, I've been successful.
If I can write a character that results in me getting hate-mail when I
kill him off, I've been successful.
If I can find one man in the world that actually loves me for who I am
and not for what I pretend to be, I'll have been successful.
If I have one daughter and can pass on the title of "Myra", I have been
successful.
If I can have but one son and can name him either Niccapol (pronounced
Nick-ah-paul), I'll have been successful.
If I can have a single day when I am able to wake up and be truly
content and happy, I'll have been successful.
If I can laugh without regret with people that I can truly call
friends, I have been a success.
If I can call myself a rebel, a bitch, a freak, a lover, a wife, a
savior, a mother, an angel, a devil, a comforter, lost, found, a guide,
a light, a teacher, a harbinger, and a peacemaker at least once, I'll
have been successful.
If I can look upon those that have wronged me and invite them into my
home with love and forgiveness, I will have been successful. If I can
look back on my life and realize that i regret nothing, not even my
mistakes and hardships, I have been a success.
And if, when I die and see that there is truly a God and that my life
has not been but a flicker of thought in the stream of time and an
abnormality on the crease of existence, I will have been a success.
And if not, what will it matter?
Eva: Saying that you still have yet fully to live is a rather weak
excuse, especially for someone such as yourself. And I think that you
end up unhappy no matter what you're doing, even if you are struggling
for a good cause, is all a matter of perspective. Even the most
annoying o optimists can find a silver lining to any situations,
whether you want one or not.
But I do agree with your idea of us being more like little cogs in a
great machine than a part of some great picture. I find it odd how
people believe that only they are able of doing something or living a
certain way when in reality they don't have to since there are hundreds
of others that are capable of doing the same task. Or something like
that, I'm probably just rambling like I normally do. Oh well!
So, tell me--what is YOUR definition of success?
Success is when a person has a goal in front of them and achievements behind them. Success arrives only when one is truly happy with what they have done and what they will do in their life. Success is a highly personal thing that can only be judged by one person – the person being judged. This is of course a measure of personal success, not physical. There is little doubt that if you pass your math test you have had success at not falling asleep in Mr. A’s Honors Pre-Calculus.
What are the hallmarks, again, to YOU, of a successful person?
A successful person creates goals for themselves that they then achieve. They are happy to receive a challenge but, also content with where they are. They have the means to provide for themselves and those dependent on them, but most of all they see themselves as successful. Self image is a powerful tool with both positive and negative effects.
How do you judge whether or not you are successful?
If I achieve the goals set out for myself then I can consider what I have done successful or not. I do not often think of my life in terms of successful or unsuccessful, more if I am happy or unhappy with the results of whatever may be happening.
Are there different levels, different measures of importance tied to levels?
Success is a variable, always changing to fit the occasion. The level of success associated with winning a pie-eating contest and the level of success connected to making winning a band competition are two different animals, pie eating, while competitive does not compare with the level of prestige or rigorous hours of listening to curmudgeon-like band directors necessary for winning a band competition.
What do you need to have, to own, to acquire in order to feel successful?
I need to have the things I need to live a happy life, mainly a house, food, family, and companions (aka friends). If I was to achieve all of these things by myself with little outside influence I would feel that my life was a success. That is just in general though. Before I die I want to raise children, as I truly feel that I was in part put on this earth to do that task. My feelings may change on this matter, but I don’t see that as very likely. Not all people need to have children – that’s a personal goal.
What types of things need to happen in order for you to see yourself as a success?
I need to get a job and become independent of my parents, then I need to form a family either a family of friends or to get married and have children. These children will take my life’s lessons an pass them on to the future of the world. This will be the epitome of my success.
Brendan - I am intrigued by your definition of success as it relates to others as I see it as a personal measurement rather than a public one. I also enjoy your graph metaphor and the way you included pain caused instead of just happiness caused. Interesting...
Ali B
It was a disconcerting experience to read this blog question and find myself stumped by something that should exist as an easily recognizable aspect of my being. Because without successes and the aim for success what are we even doing here? As it is I’ve concluded that the reason I can’t immediately recognize what my idea of success is because I don’t know where or with what I want to succeed in. it would seem a bit counterintuitive that my goals would guide my idea of success and not vice versa but I’ll take the fact as it is. So like I always do when I’m drowning within the deepest complexities of the human spirit I went to Wikipedia for guidance.
After entering my search query into that welcoming home screen I was presented with three options for “success”. The first said “a level of social status” the second “achievement of a goal” and the third was “the opposite of failure”. Instinctively I discarded social status as success because that was a little bit too reminiscent of Stepford Wives for me. The second was cast aside in the same way as I do not know what my goals are. So in the words of Spock and Sherlock Holmes, “when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth”. And that is why I found myself looking at the Wikipedia page on failure. Complete with the letters F-A-I-L stamped across the front page I knew this was the information that would lead me to my answer. As I scrolled down I saw pictures of babies dropped on their heads, 9/11, and tug boats sinking with the boat they were supposed to be saving. I thought to myself, “Well I don’t want to be any of those things so I guess this is the right place to be”.
And although that was a crude way for me to word my findings at the time it came to me later how accurate that assessment was. Simply put my definition of success is any course of life that does not lead you to regret your decisions. That is all we can really hope for. I don’t strive to attain mountains of wealth and barrels full of monkeys. As long as I’m not going through the day kicking myself for yesterdays screw ups then I consider my life to be successful.
That definition also implies that the characteristics of a successful person are up to the individual. They will need to be living lives without regret, living in the now and not in the past. This person will also need to be happy with their current place in the world as if they weren’t they would be thinking about ways they could have changed their place. Worrying about the past = FAIL. As for levels of success again that is an individual affair. For me I feel that it’s an all or nothing matter. You have to be successful all the time or none of the time because will always be drawn to look back on my past failures and will insistently focus on them as opposed o positive things. Although this is a bit extreme it I balanced out by the fact that all I need to possess to feel this success is my own self approval and sense of accomplishment. I only need to feel as if I’ve done my best and worked my hardest. If I do those things and the world still falls apart then I would be ok with it.
It seems then to be an unachievable goal if one screw up can throw off the entire plan for success. That is hardly the case though. Believe me I would have jumped off a cliff long ago if I had to dwell on all of my failures. The key then is to improve, to look back on your mistakes and fix them. There is no law that says you’re confined to the present as you can always improve the current things which you had trouble with in the past. For me to see myself as a complete success all I need is to be proud of my actions and know that I always gave it my all.
In response to Brendan:
The first thing I did when looking through the comments was search for yours. I needed to see how someone who is already perfect can gauge success. It’s good to know that you can take time away from your schedule as the world’s Hegemon to take in the simple things such as happiness. Seriously though it seems that almost everyone in the class equated success with happiness which is a good thing, unless WE’RE ALL LIARS!!!!!! Bwahaha I’m tired and listening to lux aterna after thinking about Ender’s Game because I called you the Hegemon.
I feel like I repeat myself often. Don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, but whatever. Success is a very odd word for me, and I clearly have no definition it. Guess it’s sort of a case by case basis. I THINK I have a specific set of requirements though.
Obviously, whoever has the most at the end of the game isn’t the winner. I find it funny when people base how successful they’re going to be based on a giant house, several cars with tricked out rims, or fifty plus TV’s littered all over the house, all playing the same exact program.I’ve met people like that, and I honestly don’t see it. Everyone knows my “non-materialistic” speil, so I really won’t elaborate. Goods don’t necessarily make you good.
Success is so subjective, and as far my explanation goes, I think it’s just whether you eventually figure out your little niche in the world, and whether you managed to touch a few lives. The beauty of that is that anyone can be successful in my eyes. I consider my parents successful. They make a modest amount, nothing exuberant. My parents have a foundation that gives out scholarships to underprivileged kids in South Asia. The fact that my parents have successfully sculpted doctors, lawyers, teachers, and humanitarians out of the determined kids, who otherwise would have to climb mountains to get to where they are, is amazing. In that sense, my parents are successful.
An impact is the one thing I want to make. I realize I’m a small ant in the giant anthill of the world (or bees? Is that more fitting?), but if I can leave a small imprint, I’ll be happy. Not necessarily curing AIDS or assassinating the Jonas Brothers, but help out the world however much I can. Stop begging change from a world that needs some. Everyone has the capability to influence and impact, but I think few actually try to do it. That’s why I have such enormous respect for the people that have impacted me during my stay on earth.
And yeah, I realize we all have our goals. I for one, would like to learn to River Dance, just for laughs. I mean, I know I look really Irish and all, and you’d probably expect that from me, but I think it’d be badass to be able to randomly burst out in a jig. I want to travel the world, Sky dive (probably scare the hell out of me), throw eggs at Rosie O’Donnell, and own a Wawa. But you know, even if I fail to accomplish any of that, If I can make a lasting impression on anyone, I’ll be content. Maybe that’s why I want to join the Peace Corps so badly, or why I’m toying with the idea of being a teacher.
I don’t necessarily think happiness equates to success either. Every single one of us throws around a “fake” happiness for the sake of ourselves and others. I see no possible way to be completely happy when mankind insists on screwing up the whole concept of life. People suffer every day, and unless you turn a blind eye to it, or somehow accept that as normality (which I find impossible to do), you should never reach a state of complete happiness. Almost sounds contradictory to Eastern philosophy (and maybe not well thought out), but anyone who can accept it all is either a god or an ignorant lunatic. And conversely, the more you do in life, the more you’re bound to see things you don’t want to see. You’re bound to reach unhappiness at one point. I don’t think “happiness” is the right word, more along the lines of “self-acceptance.”
And that’s about it.
Alright, I'd like to clear some things up for Ashley.
First off. When I say kindness is to only give others happiness, what I meant is that the only good that comes out of kindness is that it generates more happiness in the world. If a man could make a person very very happy, or make himself just as happy, I would see either one as being equally good acts.
The quote that you don't understand is essentially saying this. Te best thing to do with anything is what will cause the most happiness and the least pain. If more happiness is generated by a poor child eating an ice cream cone than you eating an ice cream cone, generally the ice cream should be eaten by the child. In addition, I was saying that it is generally better to advance yourself slightly on one axis than to advance greatly on that same axis while moving backwards slightly on the other.
As for the killing part. Killing someone painlessly in their sleep causes neither happiness nor pain. So, according to what I had said previously, it would be a completely neutral act. However, doing this prevents the person from experiencing the happiness and pain he would have experienced, should he have lived. If the man would have experienced significantly more happiness than pain, killing him would be a negative act. If he would have experienced significantly more pain than happiness, it would be a positive act.
And, just to make things clear, I'm using the term 'pain' as a catch-all for any negative feelings, be they physical or emotional, and ranging from the most mild discomfort to the worst tortures of hell.
Hayley!!!
"When I’m on my death bed, gasping for my last few gulps of air, I want to have no regrets. I want to know that I lived a happy and full life. I want to know every moment I was lucky enough to have, I enjoyed it. I believe that this is success."
That is exactly how I feel and how I want to live my life. That would be a true successful life in my eyes. One of my mottos in life is "no regrets" so by fulfilling what ever I wanted to in life and not feeling bad about anything I did or mistakes I made, and being content where I am is definetly a life that was a success.
Ivan: maybe that definition would be a waste of paper in a dictionary, but it's probably the most accurate.
“I hang my head from sorrow
Slave to humanity
I wear it on my shoulders
Gotta find the strength in me...”
Success seems very black and white to me; it is one of the few things that I actually don’t think there is much to dispute about. Success is accomplishing your goals in a way that makes you happy. When you set up goals for yourself, you are trying to reach for something to want so badly, but will have to work for. Plus, I think it’s true what they say about success or accomplishments tasting sweeter after earning it fair and square. You get this blast of self-esteem and it in turn makes you more confident in yourself and your actions. Who wouldn’t want that?
The Building Blocks of a Successful Person:
-The most important characteristic would have to be confidence. Confidence in his/her goals, self, and abilities. Without confidence, you may not even have goals because you already going to self-doubt yourself before you start.
-Determination is next on the list. You must have the will to succeed and try to reach your goals no matter the cost. With this trait, you can accomplish the impossible.
-Lastly, you need stamina. You need to be able to keep moving on without giving up too soon because you are worn out or tired. With stamina, you can keep up with your many goals, and accomplish your desires.
I do not really think that there are different levels of success, either you accomplish what you set out to do or you don’t. There is no “maybe” or “doing it halfway.” Technically, that wouldn’t be accomplishing anything which leads to no success.
To feel successful you need to have all the “hallmarks” stated above, plus, you also need to have accomplished your goal in a way you are proud of. If you win something by default or by playing dirty, you do not get the same feeling as if you were to play fair and hard. Winning is great, but winning the right way, it just feels so much better.
What do I need to feel like a success? Hmm, this is the only thing that would vary to me. I think it depends greatly on the situation that you want to be successful in. For example, say I wanted to try-out for cabaret night next year. I would need lots of practice to make me feel confident in myself that I can do anything I want, especially singing on stage. If I hit every note, stay in tune and on pitch, I consider myself a success. I think one thing that all my successes have in common is that, to feel successful, I can feel no regrets. If I feel any regrets, I won’t feel like a successfully accomplished my goal or plan, whatever it may be.
“...Cause I am Superwoan
Yes I am
Yes she is
Still when I’m a mess
I still put on a vest
With an S on my chest
Oh yes
I’m a Superwoman.”
When I was naïve and dumb I pictured success like any other child. Being an astronaut, lawyer or big shot celebrity was the ultimate measure of living a successful life. Working class people and the ‘average’ family that I encountered everyday seemed like the norm and although they were living a good life, the words of success seemed so extravagant that I didn’t think that life was the ultimate ideal. Now, however I realize that success, somewhat like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. One person can feel successful with a 70 and the other only when they get a 99. Sometimes when persons who are accustomed to achieving greater number look down on others and assume that they are not living successful lives. However, to some success may be maintaining a roof over their families head and food at the table. Others might only find success in playing football at a D1 college or being an anchor CNN. I feel that success in somewhat of a definition form would be achieving what a person feels is their ideal situation in life and not backing away from risks but taking chances and learning from everything to make life better. That was a really long and confusing explanation, but basically success is not being regretful of things and life and doing all you can to live your life.
I don’t’ feel that success is something that can be measured by another. Of course, the obvious successful person will be noticed by everyone for their monetary value or the achievements they accomplished. However, when success is somewhat hidden from the rest of the world, the only person that can tell one they are successful is themselves. This doesn’t mean success has a lesser value but it means that it can be measured with a wide range of interpretation.
I think the only thing that you need to have in order to be successful is satisfaction with yourself and where you are in life. I think having people around you that can support you and motivate you to do more is also a good measure or success in life and will help you achieve more as well. People that understand you, know how to positively influence you and help you see how far you can go in life and how to become ‘successful.’ To see yourself as successful you need a good grasp of the foundation of the world. You need to understand that not everything’s going to go the way you planned but by making adjustments and riding the wave, you can find the place in which you consider yourself truly successful.
I know this comment was all over the place but my mind is fried:/
Dev:
“Everyone always says that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Well, I think that success is in the eye of the beholder as well. Everyone should have their own individual definition of success, for themselves. You can't really judge or gauge somebody else's success unless you know all that they have been through. This word is thrown around quite often to describe people, however I don't think it's used correctly.”
-I agree. I said to that success us something that can only be truly determined by the person themselves. The word is another one of those that has a strong connotation which makes people feel that the only way to achieve success is through something incredible. Everyone starts in different places and has to jump different obstacles along the way which is why success can only be measured if you know how far the individual has come.
Success is accomplishment of a specific task or completion of a desire. My personal definition of success is being able to sway people in seeing the perspective I have. I guess it revolves around the ability to manipulate to get what you want done whether it’s manipulating yourself or others. A successful person has everything in the palm of her/his hands. He/She has everything they ever wanted. He/she is also very content and happy. Being a successful person gives yourself confidence and a certain identity. You can be a part of the “Go-Getter” club. I just spoke in so many different persons. Success is hard to measure. I think it revolves around your priorities and what’s important to you. Also, expectations play a part. If someone is happy with even their progress and not their full accomplishment, they could still be considered successful. Any negativity proves to be unsuccessful. Just being optimistic about a situation you could be successful. I don’t think there are any levels to success. I think it’s black and white for most people. In order to feel successful, I feel like you need to be well aware of the difficulty and the accomplishment. Confidence needs to be evident. A transformation in thought needs to happen. Before and after has to be distinguished from one another. Realization needs to set in.
Meg Song-
I have the same exact viewpoint as you. It is very black and white to me. That's why I can't really elaborate on how I think of this topic. I'm at a blank.
Carly- Happy Birthday
"When I was naïve and dumb I pictured success like any other child. Being an astronaut, lawyer or big shot celebrity was the ultimate measure of living a successful life. Working class people and the ‘average’ family that I encountered everyday seemed like the norm and although they were living a good life, the words of success seemed so extravagant that I didn’t think that life was the ultimate ideal. Now, however I realize that success, somewhat like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder."
I liked how you started your blog with this comparison. I think this comparison is true for most people. I always longed to be successful by having a high-paying job, but money doesn't solve anyone's problem.
Eva:
I see no virtue in being rich/powerful but unhappy. A life that gives no pleasure is nothing but a tether.
I completely agree with you. What's the point of gaining so much success if you aren't happy? The whole point of wanting success is to MAKE you happier. If you end up all inverted, it's not worth it. I'd just say, quit whatever you are doing and get on with your true dreams!
Normally, I like to read through all the responses made thus far on the blog, before I post my own, but due to my broken computer, I’m on my kid sister Elizabeth’s, and she would kill me if I took that long. So instead of being inspired by all of my brilliant classmates, I’m going to have to run with this one on my own.
When I think of success, I find it directly correlates to 2 things; Happiness and my opinion of myself.
For me, a successful day is when I get away with being happy for all or most of a day, or when the people around me are particularly happy. As I’ve mentioned in other blogs, I really strive to bring joy to those I spend my day with, and if I succeed in that, I’ve been successful. (duh, haha.) In the same token, when I’m happy it generally has to do with succeeding in some way. I’m at my happiest in life after a good performance- having a good performance is a form of success, because it brings me joy.
I also relate my success to the pride I have in myself. If I’m feeling particularly bad about myself, it generally is because I think I epic failed at something, and vice versa, if I feel particularly good about myself, I can generally attribute that to a sense that I succeeded in some way, accomplished something good. It probably isn’t a good thing that these two correlate so directly for me, since I seem to epic fail a lot more frequently than I feel I accomplish something, but it is how it is. Ultimately, for me to be successful at this point in life, I need to be happy, surrounded by happy people, and feel good about myself and my accomplishments. (Can you tell I don’t often feel successful?)
I do not, however, feel there are tiers to my success. I am either successful or I am not. I am either happy about where I am in life, or I am not. I am either proud about who I am and what I do, or I am not. Perhaps there are mediums and in betweens on those things, but if I’m anywhere short of a positive, reinforced YES, then I am not yet successful. Much to the same point, I do not feel there is any real correlation between possessions and success. Though perhaps in basic ways, such as having no food would make me unhappy, and not being independent would make me feel bad about myself, you do need to have some things to be successful, I do not believe you need excess to be a success.
Janiru- First of all, I feel the need to restate what I said earlier. If your main idea of being successful is positively impacting someone’s life, I think you’re already a success. That’s really cool about your parents, it says a lot about where you got a lot of your ideas and philosophies from. =] As for your Jonas Brothers reference, don’t tell Chrissy, she was seriously ticked by the whole guitar thing, haha, and if you ask really nicely I’m SURE Mellie would teach you to Irish Step dance. ;P
Alison- I’ve passed lots of math tests and I fall asleep in Mr. A’s Honors Pre Calculus all the time. Where does that leave me? =P
Jani- As i was reading your last paragraph, i was shaking my head. Because although i agree that no one can be happy all the time, i do think success is equated with happiness. But then I reached this line:
"I don’t think “happiness” is the right word, more along the lines of “self-acceptance.”
All your thoughts seemed to tie together there. I think accepting yourself and accepting your state of being where you are is part of success. But i think once you reach the state of self-acceptance, happiness does come into play.
i feel like im talking in circles. i hope i make sense haha
Success is an ever-elusive fantasy we mere mortals like to chase. At least, permanent success fits that description. We make silly little goals for ourselves, only to see them crushed, or to feel unsatisfied once we achieve them. Satisfaction is success. Satisfaction is quite possibly the hardest state of mind to maintain. You can love the world, and smile ear to ear in sheer joy, and still be unsatisfied with the life you’re living. Happiness isn’t hard to attain. Smile; think happy thoughts. You’re most of the way there. Now just make sure none of your close friends or family have died recently, and there’s a good chance you’re in “the mood without the brood.” Love is pretty artificial as well, but now’s not the time.
Really quick, I need to get this down in pixels. gossip is sexist OR don’t patronize me. I’ll know what I meant.
So, you’ve decided you want to continue on this road to nowhere? Against all odds, you shall still fight for your fabled success? It’s easy. Just get yourself some satisfaction. You and I may be thinking of different sorts of satisfaction, so let’s just sort that situation out right now. I’m not talking customer satisfaction. This is self-satisfaction, the feeling that comes when you’re at peace with the universe. It’s that feeling you get when you know your life is where you want it to be. I’ve felt it maybe once or twice. But I always get the feeling I’ve never get it to stay. If I could, though, getting that MD and settling down somewhere not so fast-paced is probably the first step.
***************************************
WarrenerI totally got the Mario metaphor. Although, there's the back-long-jumping glitch that allows you to skip all the stars......but we won't consider that, hahaha.
Crap...
I completely forgot about my blog until ten seconds ago.
Well, I just wanted to say that I think that success is a matter of what you feel satisfied accomplishing. If you grew up on the streets and think that getting an everyday job at McDonalds is sucessful, then it probably is. It is all about reaching the goals that you have set for yourself, whether they may be becoming a rich plastic surgeon or a postman. But, there is an artificial success that is being played all over the media. Showing alcoholic stars being idolozed for their wrong doings, and that can lead the younger generation that that is the kind of behavior that will make them sucessful.
Sucess is all in your head. It's all about getting what you have strived and worked hard for, and finally feeling happy and relieved with what you have accomlished. You have to say to yourself 'Hey! I did a good job!' If you never give yourself that kind of encouragement, then you will never feel satisfied or sucessful in your life. You will always be trying to do more and more and more and more. Not that you shouldn't strive to better yourself, but at some point you need to take a second to take in what you have done for yourself.
Sucess can be measured on all different levels, as I stated earlier. It's all about where you realize all of the progress that you have made.
In society today, I think that people percieve success as a whole lot of money. Take a successful lawyer for instance. Why is he sucessful? BECAUSE HE MAKEs A LOT OF MONEY. That is where people are wrong, because he can have all of the money in the world, and also be the most empy , un satisfied, unhappy man in the world.
I often wonder the keys to success myself. This single thought habitually crosses my mind from time to time whenever I take a deep, hard look at the world. Naturally I sometimes get into those ‘June’ moods where I pessimistically look at the outside world and nonstop question the way it works. I look at peoples’ lives and actions and wonder how they all tie together. A familiar thought that always comes to mind when I ponder about life is the fairness of it all. I mean, some people are honest, hardworking, good people that work their whole life to get to the amount of money that some people make in one month alone. Then I think about the latter half of people, who have millions upon millions of dollars that could go to starving kids or homeless people, but somehow always find their way into some huge vault where these bills will live the rest of their life.
And here is where I get down to the matter of success. Why do some people succeed at a whim, when others try their hardest and don’t succeed at all. Right about here is where I have asked myself many times about the people themselves, and not necessarily their money. Underneath all of the piles and piles of money that one owns, are they actually successful people? Are they helpful people? Have they made a difference? This is where I have come to the conclusion that success doesn’t lie in wealth alone, but is made up of spectrums. Many people realize this beforehand that money doesn’t make you successful, so in this idea they have went off on their own route of success.
To me, success is getting as fair as you possibly can in whatever spectrum of success you wish to obtain. For example, if you want to go to the moon then I would say you’ve reached success if you become an astronaut. If you want to help the poor and sick, then becoming a missionary would probably be your best way to become successful. And lastly, if money is what you desire, then yes, in order to be successful you must make a lot of money. These ideas coincide with my thoughts on spectrums of success. If success is truly succeeding at life, then what will you have to do in a certain area to get to that area in life where you can truly say your life is a job well done. Each of us have different beliefs at a worthy and valuable life, and what’s left up to us is the resources and motivation we will use in order to accomplish these goals. ‘Tools to Success’. I mean there has to be a book out there called ‘The Tools to Success’ somewhere amongst all of the Barnes and Nobles and libraries out there in the world. But the tools to success aren’t as general as they appear. To each of us and our definitions or fields of success, come specific and personal tools that we must obtain. Let’s divide life into two separate groups of people. On one hand we’ll have the money-seekers, and on the other hand we’ll have the people-seekers. Money seekers are anyone who looks at life as one big way to obtain wealth. The people-seekers are the people who look beyond wealth and all of its amenities, and look deeper at what life has to offer outside of a money-driven planet. The money seekers need good financial skills, great manipulative skills, and basic smarts to get themselves through life. The people-seekers on the other hand need a different outlook on life. They must be happy and content in where they’re at and the goals that they personally seek. Above this they must be humble, selfless, and focused on the goal at hand. Above all, they must be true to themselves and true to their goal, remembering that their success doesn’t lie in the materialistic success of the world.
Relating all of this information back to myself, I don’t really know where I fit in all of it. I wouldn’t consider myself successful, but I also wouldn’t consider myself unsuccessful. In my personal route to being successful I believe there’s only one thing holding me back, and that would be the fact that I haven’t found my spectrum yet, so I really don’t know where to start. Once I grasp that notion of my purpose in life and where I need to be, I know that I will do anything in order to get there. This is where I can find my own tools to success, and I can first handedly learn what it really takes to be successful in life. Although I’m setting myself up for success, including taking AP classes and going as far as college will take me, I know the one thing that will spark my journey is that peace of mind of knowing where I’m needed in the world. To me, fulfilling your part in the world is true success.
“Success is all in your head. It's all about getting what you have strived and worked hard for, and finally feeling happy and relieved with what you have accomlished.”
Brit
---Brit I completely agree with the concept that success is all in your head. No one can define success for you and no one can fully tell you that you’re successful except for yourself. Since success is something personal, only you yourself will know whether the things you’ve worked hard for are honestly valuable or only done in vain.
Dictionary definition of success: the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.
This is the raw and heartless definition of success. This is the definition that someone with no heart or feelings may say. To success means achievement. To achieve something that you have been striving towards. To finally score the goal in the long tiring soccer game. It’s when you have the perfect chance, and line the ball up perfectly, and the goalie is weak on his left, and you take the shot aim towards the far left and score the winning goal of the game. That what success feels like. I could have used another sport but we have more soccer players than anyone anything in these classes.
I know that when someone is a successful person they have achieved their goal. They have gotten to where they have always wanted to be. All types of success are the same. It can be getting an A in an extremely hard class and it can becoming a doctor in one of the best hospitals in America.
You need motivation and determination to be a successful person. You need to have a goal that you can see and you are ready to achieve it. Success is something that can only be achieved if you keep your eye on the prize and you will get to it no matter what. You are ready to go to any lengths to achieve that prize. I think that even small goals can be counted as successes. For example I want to pull off a straight A plus average in physics. That is my goal, that is what I want to achieve by the end of this year.
A person must not only believe that they should always remember what It took to get to that point. Because the path you take can define you are and how long your success might last. Success is something that can give you a big head and you can’t see your goal clearly. Therefore one should always know what they want to be but also who they actually are. The person inside is what matters not how much money you have or how successful you are.
Many people think that success is when you have lots of money, a sweet house, and the prefect high paying job. It isn’t even close to that. Success is something that is fulfilling and wonderful. It is the one thing that matters inside you.
Leonor: “To me, success means accomplishing the goals in your heart”
Leonor this is so deep and sweet. I love how you said that it is in your heat. I think that was pretty sweet and I didn’t know that you were so deep. Nice job.
Once again blogger is being annoying and won't let me post my entire blog.
For the first time ever, I have had my perception changed by what the people on this blog have said. Usually I read everyone else's blog before I post my own, which provides me with the information I need to quickly disagree. However this time the opposite occur. I was sitting here in my little broken computer chair thinking to myself, "all you need to be successful in life is enough money for you to live comfortably," but then I read a couple of blogs and realized that's wrong. Of course that's what my immediate reaction would be, considering we live in a materialistic world and I haven't ever had sufficient funds to be considered living comfortably. After reading blogs like Devon's and Leonor's I've come to realize that my thought process was only partially correct. True success comes from a combination of desires, accomplishments, and financial gains. Ultimately, success is a trifecta that is only truly obtained when all three areas are adequately fulfilled.
The head of the trifecta is based solely upon a person's desire, considering it is utterly impossible for anyone to ever do anything effectively if they don't want to do it. How can a person be truly successful if the end they reached isn't the end they wanted. Besides being a means to an end, desire is also a means to a beginning. It's as if without desire, the entire endeavor of success is fruitless and futile. Why see something through to the end, if there is no motivation to get it done? People must have a certain hunger for something in order for it to be considered a successful endeavor. If the end result brings about a sense of accomplishment that is unwanted, then it is nothing but a meaningless task. Take having a job for instance. A person can be paid millions of dollars to crack computer codes, but if the person doesn't like cracking computer codes it's a fact: they aren't successful.
The left wing of the trifecta of success is derived from the ability to accomplish something. It doesn't have to be a major accomplishment, it can be anything. To be called an accomplishment the task has to provide the person with an inner sense of accomplishment. As redundant as that sounds it has potential to make sense. Think about an individual who cheats their way to the top of a corporate chain. If they are remorseful and care that they did not fairly reach the top, then they do not have the ability to feel that accomplishment. Instead their money and new found power will drive them to insanity. They are not successful. However this scenario can work both ways. If that same person instead is smitten with the idea that they have effectively cheated the system, then they are unfortunately successful. Also the idea of accomplishment means a person must see their objective to the end. I don't know if this is particularly appropriate, but Hitler is an example of someone who was unsuccessful. His endeavor to purge the Jewish population of the world was partially successful, but since he was unable to finish his work he was not successful. (In no way, shape, or form am I condoning the actions of Hitler. I am merely making a point.)
On the rightward portion of the trifecta is the all powerful ideal of financial gains. Sadly, our society has been built upon the idea of monetary empowerment. In order for a person to have even a scintilla amount of success they must be financially stable. It is a known fact that, unfortunately, money makes the world go 'round. If a person has zero funds then all of their actions are just trivial pursuits. How can a person be said to have led a successful life if they are living under a cardboard box or within some tiny hovel? What is successful about not having enough money for your family to eat or buy the necessary essentials? I know that some people will argue," what if you provide them with love and care? Isn't that enough to say you were successful?" I respond to them with a fierce, "NO." There isn't enough love in the world to overcome the need for food, adequate shelter, and other necessities. If a person does not receive enough funds or compensations for their endeavors to live comfortably, then sadly they are not successful.
-Devon
“We all have the potential, it's just a matter of who steps up.”
That's exactly what I was saying in my speech. That's why I believe idiocy is curable! We are all born with the same brain, it's just how you use it. Thank you for showing that I am not the only person who believes in this concept.
To accurately define success, one must first recognize what is important for that particular person. In order to find out what is truly important, one must break their definition of success down into two main components, one part dream and one part reality. In the end of each person’s life, when they’re eyes are closing for the last time, and their life flashes before their eyes, the thing that determines whether they were successful in life is whether they are accepting of this fate, or they regret something they did. If they regret many things in their life, it was a failure. So, in short, my definition of success is, the feeling that when you die, you have no regrets.
I had an extensive conversation with my friend about success, recently. Success is essentially winning at life. Everyone wants to win, and one can only win when all of the goals of the person have been completed or at least attempted. Some of my goals include, being financially secure, building a family, and traveling to all of the continents. These all mean a lot to me, and all of my goals are intertwined. I must be financially secure in order to build a family and be able to travel to world. Someone could have completely different aspirations and still consider them self a success. They could be an alcoholic, who parties every night and dies at 36. They lived their life’s aspirations; even though they may be culturally less admirable than my own. With the recent passing of the king of pop, Michael Jackson, in my opinion did not live the life he wanted. Abused as a child, and in many ways forced into labor, he did not live his own life. This is very sad. His life was in every way for us, and a listening audience. I suppose I should have mentioned Michael Jackson, in my previous blog. Even though Michael was a stupendous artist, I would gladly sacrifice the joy I received from his music for him living a normal life.
I can only speak for myself, but when I die, I would like to lie in my own bed, in a house that I built, surrounded by my family and friends. As I look back on all the things I have done in life, I hope that I will remember all of the people that I helped. Perhaps I was able to house someone who was down on their luck. I would love to help find an alternative lifestyle, that benefits the environment. These hopes and dreams are just that; however, they are goals I have set for myself that I will devote my life to completing.
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