Defining Success

Defining Success

Recently, I came across a forum topic in which a member was critical of those who wrote about their own achievements. His point was that although they wrote about success, they had none.

I said nothing; I simply smiled at the enthusiasm with which others attacked what was obviously an attempt at self-aggrandizement. He obviously had a very restricted definition of success if he made such a comment, with the assumption being that he meant financial success. If success was defined in such a restricted and obviously ridiculous way, how on earth could he tell if the other people who wrote about success had actually achieved their goals? Obviously, he was unable to

He had just offended every literate individual on earth with just one phrase. Achieving success is a uniquely individual endeavor. Successes can be identified in the lives of everybody, and anyone who can write can write about success. Someone who is conceited and makes snap judgments about others based on their material prosperity may be unable to appreciate their achievements. Nonetheless, those minor achievements may mean a lot to the kid, teenager, or adult in question, as well as to their loved ones.

Success is always contextual, and it may be applied to any aspect of human life. No one deserves to be automatically labeled a failure by those around them. It's possible to fail at something, but at least you tried, and that makes you more "successful" than the person who's always wanted to try but never got around to it.

Actually, it is conceivable to both "succeed" and "fail" simultaneously. Personal experience: I wrote my first two novels in my late teens. Though I never found a publisher or made any money from it, I felt immensely fulfilled and counted the completion of my second novel as at least a success. I had failed as a novelist yet nevertheless managed to feel accomplished.

To keep things in perspective when thinking about your personal achievements, remember the dictionary's definition of success: "an event that accomplishes its intended purpose." That's really all there is to it; it doesn't even have to include flaunting your wealth or getting a lot of attention.

Those who have achieved the greatest levels of accomplishment are often the most wealthy and famous. Successes, even the biggest ones, are rarely achieved without a long series of minor victories and setbacks that were all necessary building blocks along the way.

For instance, a well-known musician might have first found popularity after learning to play their favorite song on guitar. It was a huge success in retrospect, despite its seeming insignificance at the time. It's possible that the same musician was written off as a dud after their first public performance, when things didn't go as planned and the crowd booed. Nonetheless, it was a necessary precursor to their eventual triumph.

Getting where you want to go requires starting with a plan and following it through to its conclusion. Each baby step can be a triumph in and of itself, or it can be a setback that motivates you to try harder and succeed in the end. Both have equal weight and significance.