Definition Essay: My Pursuit Of Success In Life

787 Words2 Pages

The pursuit of success and achievement are what motivates all humans in their daily lives. It influences individual’s dreams and goals in life from an early age, directing people purpose in life. Success can be defined in many different ways and can only truly be defined by the individual. Many may define success by a person’s wealth and possessions, or consider success as having joy and happiness in life. Media today often displays success by individual status and wealth, often viewing professional athletes and celebrities as the most successful individuals. Legendary college basketball coach John Wooden once stated, success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you …show more content…

However the majority of American society define success in a different way. According to This Is How Americans Define Success article, “A whopping 90% believe that success is more about happiness than power, possessions, or prestige.” This statistic indicates that there has been a clear change in the definition of success. Americans are no longer striving to be ostentatious, but rather devoting their lives to being happy. Growing up as a child my friends and I would always discuss how we all wanted to be successful and rich, have luxurious houses, and cars in our future. As I have matured my views have remained the same. I pursue to be successful by living comfortable and content, which requires a good financial income. A survey conducted at Strayer University in 2011, interviewed 2,011 students eighteen and older. “The survey concluded that, 67% of surveyed Americans associated success with achieving personal goals; 66% cited good relationships with friends and family; and 60% said loving what you do for a living. The results show how there are different interpretations of what success …show more content…

Without a set plan achieving success in anything will be very difficult. Building a direct plan to achieve something gives the sense of direction and decreases self doubt and other mental obstacles. Tom Corley state in his book “Rich Habits”, “People who are headed for success think for the long term. They have daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals. They also come up with ways to achieve them and hold themselves accountable.” Creating long term goals is a very effective way to keep moving forward and progressing in life. Writing goals out and visually seeing it everyday as a constant reminder makes a goal more significant. Such visual aid may provide a reinforcement and stimulate a response of action. By taking action and attempting to complete a goal, you are one step closer than you would be if nothing was done. The main reason people don't achieve success and their goal is because they allow negative thoughts and distractions to sway them off path. To be successful, an individual must be very mentally strong to overcome and prevail. When I have set personal goals for myself, I always commit myself compared to when I would just simply think about achieving

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