What is Success ??

cowfishrule

cowfishrule

Active Member
One thing I've learned in my relatively short time on this planet is that our definition of the word "success" changes over time. In my younger days I yearned for stardom and riches, which I guess is a fairly common goal for those bursting with youthful exuberance. As I've gotten older, though, these things seem increasingly trivial and downright undesirable.
At this stage of my life (30, married, kid), I define success as living honestly and contently, being at peace with yourself and the world around you. Forging close relationships and enjoying your time away from work are the truly important things, not how much money you have in the bank or how big of a house you own.
I'm sure some of you have very different ideas. How do you define success?
Discuss...
edit- I know that this is a bit out of my norm, but I am having a moment...
 
D

dragonzim

Active Member
Originally Posted by COWFISHRULE
http:///forum/post/2836208
At this stage of my life (30, married, kid), I define success as living honestly and contently, being at peace with yourself and the world around you. Forging close relationships and enjoying your time away from work are the truly important things, not how much money you have in the bank or how big of a house you own.
No kid for me yet, but I definitely agree with the above. I'm old enough to know that I'll probably never be rich and famous. To me, success means not having to worry about money all the time, having a loving family and friends and a good job that allows me to keep a roof over my head and live comforably.
 
socal57che

socal57che

Active Member
Originally Posted by COWFISHRULE
http:///forum/post/2836208
One thing I've learned in my relatively short time on this planet is that our definition of the word "success" changes over time. In my younger days I yearned for stardom and riches, which I guess is a fairly common goal for those bursting with youthful exuberance. As I've gotten older, though, these things seem increasingly trivial and downright undesirable.
At this stage of my life (30, married, kid), I define success as living honestly and contently, being at peace with yourself and the world around you. Forging close relationships and enjoying your time away from work are the truly important things, not how much money you have in the bank or how big of a house you own.
I'm sure some of you have very different ideas. How do you define success?
Discuss...
edit- I know that this is a bit out of my norm, but I am having a moment...
That pretty much sums it up. Nothing to discuss here.
 
nw2salt08

nw2salt08

Active Member
+1 Agreed. Success is all of the above and teaching your kids the values upon which we want them to follow and hope for the same in their lives. Life should be based upon happiness and not monetary value. I define my success in how I raise my children because they are my career.
 
patrick8929

patrick8929

Active Member
i believe success is what you make it. it is being happy with your every day life. it is being happy with who you are as a person and knowing that wont change. its setting goals and achieving them.
 
goober_hunter

goober_hunter

Member
i believe that success is being happy with who you are and learning who you are as a person. you can be poor and be successfull. IMO.
 
crimzy

crimzy

Active Member
Originally Posted by COWFISHRULE
http:///forum/post/2836208
One thing I've learned in my relatively short time on this planet is that our definition of the word "success" changes over time. In my younger days I yearned for stardom and riches, which I guess is a fairly common goal for those bursting with youthful exuberance. As I've gotten older, though, these things seem increasingly trivial and downright undesirable.
At this stage of my life (30, married, kid), I define success as living honestly and contently, being at peace with yourself and the world around you. Forging close relationships and enjoying your time away from work are the truly important things, not how much money you have in the bank or how big of a house you own.
I'm sure some of you have very different ideas. How do you define success?
Discuss...
edit- I know that this is a bit out of my norm, but I am having a moment...
Most people seem to agree with you and, while it's a nice sentiment, I don't agree. I have to assume that the "success" that you're referring to is what you have achieved in your life. Thus, you are a successful person.
It may just be my personality, but I am not the type of person who will ever be content with where I am. I love my life, but I will always know that I can do better. Call it driven, call it materialistic, call it whatever, but IMO to declare success means you stop striving for better. It's not all about money but I can tell you that I will probably never feel that I have completed all of my achievements.
I'll have plenty of time to stop and smell the roses when I'm dead.
 
mimzy

mimzy

Active Member
Originally Posted by crimzy
http:///forum/post/2836873
Most people seem to agree with you and, while it's a nice sentiment, I don't agree. I have to assume that the "success" that you're referring to is what you have achieved in your life. Thus, you are a successful person.
It may just be my personality, but I am not the type of person who will ever be content with where I am. I love my life, but I will always know that I can do better. Call it driven, call it materialistic, call it whatever, but IMO to declare success means you stop striving for better. It's not all about money but I can tell you that I will probably never feel that I have completed all of my achievements.
I'll have plenty of time to stop and smell the roses when I'm dead.

gotta say dude, that sux. just sayin'
 
mimzy

mimzy

Active Member
Originally Posted by crimzy
http:///forum/post/2836919
Why be satisfied?
Once you've gotten there, you're pretty much done.
i disagree!! happiness is not a destination, it's a METHOD of living. i am VERY happy with who i am and my home and my standard of living, but that does not, EVER mean i am not going to constantly be changing things, trying new things, improving things as I go along! it's a JOURNEY... just b/c you're happy doesn't mean you're DONE.
 
crimzy

crimzy

Active Member
Originally Posted by Mimzy
http:///forum/post/2836928
i disagree!! happiness is not a destination, it's a METHOD of living. i am VERY happy with who i am and my home and my standard of living, but that does not, EVER mean i am not going to constantly be changing things, trying new things, improving things as I go along! it's a JOURNEY... just b/c you're happy doesn't mean you're DONE.
But you are using the terms success and happiness as synonyms. I am a very happy person and I love my life. But that doesn't mean that I am content or feel that I've achieved my goals.
I also think that MOST men and women may have different perceptions of success, (I emphasize most because I realize that there are exceptions so let's not dwell on that). I am the primary provider for my family. My wife and daughters lives are directly impacted by my ability to succeed financially. Whether we can go to disneyland, put my kids through college, get my wife some help with the housecleaning or a babysitter so we can spend some time together, it all depends on what I can achieve. I could be happy without these things but I wouldn't call that success, at least not my interpretation of it.
Maybe my opinion is representative of my specific life. I am 32 years old. I think it would be a bit short-sighted to consider yourself successful at 32. There is soooo much more that I feel I can achieve in life. If I was 60 and looking back on things, then maybe I'd feel differently.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Crimzy, you are you. You define your life by how much you can "give" your family. That is monetary. I didn't see you talk about how much you can play games with your girls or how much time you can give them. You are talking about things that money can buy. That doesn't make you a success now, nor will it when you are 60.
Financial gains are certainly great but that isn't success IMO.
I agree with Mimzy on this one. To be successful you have to be happy with most aspects of your life. You have to be proud of what you have done as well as eager to do more.
 
mimzy

mimzy

Active Member
Originally Posted by crimzy
http:///forum/post/2837035
But you are using the terms success and happiness as synonyms. I am a very happy person and I love my life. But that doesn't mean that I am content or feel that I've achieved my goals.
I also think that MOST men and women may have different perceptions of success, (I emphasize most because I realize that there are exceptions so let's not dwell on that). I am the primary provider for my family. My wife and daughters lives are directly impacted by my ability to succeed financially. Whether we can go to disneyland, put my kids through college, get my wife some help with the housecleaning or a babysitter so we can spend some time together, it all depends on what I can achieve. I could be happy without these things but I wouldn't call that success, at least not my interpretation of it.
Maybe my opinion is representative of my specific life. I am 32 years old. I think it would be a bit short-sighted to consider yourself successful at 32. There is soooo much more that I feel I can achieve in life. If I was 60 and looking back on things, then maybe I'd feel differently.
so i suppose our problem here is the definition of the word "success." ...which CFR at the beginning of the thread had left open to interpretation.... so we had all simply given our own interpretations of the word. ...and u gave urs. and i gave my opinion and said it sounded like it suxorded. and then u called mine in to question, and i clarified, and now you're restating yours. i don't really know where to go from here unless you want to correct CFR and put an official definition of success up here and then ask who's life meets that definition.

And as for being short sighted to call oneself successful at 32; here's a question for you - does that mean the people who don't make it to 60 were not happy, were not successful? I do not include longevity in my definition of success, not by a longshot. short stints of fabulously happy lives are successful in my book.
 
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