Defining Success

[winuxchrosh]

Each of us has our own definition of success. What is success to you?

I would define success when I am happy with what I have achieve. It doesn't have to big or small as long as I enjoyed with what I have done.

Contentment is a word that I could equate with success. People oftentimes want more after they achieve their goal. There is no problem with getting better with what you have. But if there is no contentment then that person will constantly be looking for more or better things. Then there won't be a time for him to enjoy what he already have.

[Narnian]

I totally agree with you, and I learned recently that what makes ME happy is not necessarily what everybody else tells me will make me happy.

For example, being a good student, everyone assumed (and then insisted) that I would go to graduate school and get a Master's, and maybe even a doctorate one day. I had been quite satisfied with my bachelor's, but figured everyone was looking out for my best interest. I got to school, was miserable, and realized that I was perfectly happy with going back home and writing and teaching for a living.

I may not have a graduate degree, but I am much happier than I would be if I were still in grad school.

[Coatl_Arrwyn]

Success to me is being able to look back on a day and think "I've accomplished something today, I've learned something today, I helped someone today, I wrote today."  If I can say all that, it was a good day and I would feel successful. 

I'm not very good at what most people use to define "success".  I don't get the whole concept of striving for a big pay check, a new car every four years and a house bigger than I need.  That just doesn't mean anything at all to me.

My children are productive, generally content, responsive citizens.  That's success as a parent.  My mother is comfortable and slowly regaining her faculties after a major surgery and a stroke because I am here to care for her.  That's success to me.
I generally am content with my life.  That's success.  I have no big regrets.  If I died tomorrow my only concern would be who would take care of my mother.  My children are on their own.  I'm not leaving a mountain of debt.  Granted I don't own anything worth passing on, except my unpublished manuscripts, but what good are "things" since you can't take them with you.  I think I've done a fairly good job with my life, considering the cards I was dealt.  I consider myself to be a human success.

[Spiffy]

Success to me is not measured in monetary or material possessions. I feel I am successful when I am helping others because so many people see no point in stepping outside of their own needs to help someone else; I hope I never become that person. I am successful when I am challenging myself and others around me, learning new things, immersing myself into different cultures and beliefs and genuinely respecting them even if they aren't reflective of my own. Most importantly, I am successful when I actively pursue my dreams and use my talents to do what makes me happy.

[LynnS]

There is an old quote (can't remember who said it) that goes something like "A man's success is measured by the happiness of his family." If my husband and daughter are happy, I feel successful. If my daughter and I are happy, my husband feels successful. As a person, I feel best about myself when those I love most are content.

Too many people define themselves by their work or their possessions which makes no sense. My house has nothing to do with who I am. I like my job, but that also has nothing to do with who I am in my heart and mind.

My best friend's sister-in-law is a keeping-up-with-the-Jones's type of person and we are always trying to figure out why she would want to put her family into so much debt just to have more stuff. People like that baffle me. I think they are discontent within their own hearts and lives and trying to fill a void by upgrading their materialistic things.

[meiguoren]

I live by the following saying, "No amount of success at work can compensate for failure in the home."  Success to me is having a terrific family where each person knows they are loved and cared for.