Ever since the times of the BC era, wealth had defined success (Definition of Success). A wealthy person of those times would be looked at as a superior being, they would be someone you’d show respect for. They were successful. Although that's the definition of success back then, does it mean something different now? Like every human being, and every past structure of society, the definition evolves with time because society's’ values change. The definition of the word “success” was often considered as the achievement of wealth, but now it has become modernized to fit into today's society. Today, success is looked at as an individual doing what gives them happiness, generally doing their best, or even contributing positive actions to the world …show more content…
Throughout time in history, everyone who considered themselves successful also had wealth in their lives, but today those concepts aren’t applied. Now it's also seen as an individual doing their best at something or what makes someone happy. In a study by Ipsos, represented by Strayer, 2,011 Americans, eighteen and older, were asked about the definition of success. The results showed that 90% of them believed success meant happiness over everything else. Branching from that, 67% believed it meant achieving personal goals, 66% said it's associated with their relationships toward friends and family, and 60% believed it meant loving their career. Only 1 in 5 people had said wealth defined success. People aren't relying on “textbook meanings” anymore, but rely on themselves personally. It can also be defined in a more broad sense. This word can also mean to help shape the world into a better place by contributing positive things to not only oneself, but to others around them as well. Dr. Michael Plater, president of Strayer University, believes that success defines the feeling one gets when the little, yet significant moments in life appear. Its when, “You have accomplished something bigger and better than yourself.” An example of this could be the accomplished feeling a teacher gets when their students make better grades on a test. Blogger, Steve Mueller, believes that success is measured by the amount of people that able to live a better life because of what an individual creates for them. Simply donating to a charity or organization can give you that positive or accomplished feeling
Success can be an extremely broad subject. There is an abounding amount of different views on what the “true” definition of success is. Personally, I believe that success is finding happiness. Success is waking up in the morning and not having to worry about whether or not the bills are going to be paid this month. Success is having a job that you enjoy going to every day. Success is having friends and family who love and support you. Success does not mean that one has to be exceedingly rich or have a lakeside mansion. As long as they are happy, they have succeeded in life.
To many people success means the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. But what it really means is more than just that; is having a beautiful and amazing family of two boys and one girl, and have the best wife. Also, success means reaching my goals or dreams, like starting my new manufactory and insurance business and keep working hard because in order to reach things I must be ready to fall and rise up. But like I said, to obtain where I want to be; I’ll first need to finish college having my Bachelor in Accounting and start from zero.
Success is not earning a fat juicy check at the end of each month, or being a part of a large social group filled with fraudulent people that appear as familiar faces. But it is a person discovering him or herself after they had been lost and establishing a sense of purpose that makes them fills them with a warm glowing sense of accomplishment. Success does not have one transparent definition, it has various meanings depending on what success means to the individual trying to achieve it. Success is surviving.
Everyone’s vision of success differs. Wealth, happiness, and fame are all the stereotypical aspirations of the common person’s so-called “American Dream.” My American dream encompasses more of the first two aspects than anything else. Happiness is the most important; without happiness, wealth and fame are useless. Without happiness, success cannot exist; it is your own personal gauge of accomplishment. If you cannot look at yourself in the mirror and evaluate your own life a success, then why should anyone else consider you successful? Wealth can attribute to happiness. No matter what anyone says, having more material goods makes your standard of living better, which normally is a direct correlate of happiness. It helps you experience the luxurious joys in life that, otherwise, you couldn’t carry out. Fame, to me, isn’t needed but rather acquired through the life of the successful person. A legacy is more honorable than a national fame, because after death fame is a more humble characteristic. Changing others lives, after they examined your life in retrospect, makes fame an irreplaceable cog in the machine of success.
'One has achieved success who has lived well and laughed often.'; This quote seems to sum up what is meant by success. If you are able to laugh often and much then you have definitely achieved happiness. The idea of living well, though, is a very broad statement. In order, then, to define success in relation to this statement, we must first define what it means to live well. There are three levels of success, in my opinion: societal success, personal success, and academic or professional success. If someone can achieve all of these three levels of success, they are someone who has lived well.
In this epoch of monetary hunger, when it comes to defining success, I think the vast majority of the metropolitan population would see eye-to-eye when they exclaim that wealth is the best yardstick of success. However, this is true only to some extent. It is not wrong when we say possession of wealth does vouch for hard work, sacrifice and time, in line with the values of modern-day culture. Setting our aim in life to accumulate huge stacks of cash and assets, and then earning it would be synonymous with the definition of success given by the Cambridge Dictionary: “achieving of the results wanted or hoped for.” The keyword from the previous sentence is ‘earning it’.
It is quite obvious what current society associates with success: material wealth and high status. This perspective is seemingly obvious since having lots of money simply makes it easier to live. Rather than spending time worrying over missed payments and meeting deadlines for jobs, having money readily available makes it easier to enjoy oneself in times of leisure. Although high status has no monetary price tag, being of high status opens many doors. Along with this, high status, usually attained with money, also plays a part in making life a lot more easier and enjoyable.
“To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children… to leave the world a bit better, this is to have succeeded” (Stanley, 1904). This is the definition of success according to Bessie Anderson Stanley, the grandmother of the famous poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson. As stated by Stanley, success is present in those who have loved, laughed, and lived a life full of enthusiasm and optimism. Success exists in those who have participated in the creation of life, whether it is bearing children or simply growing a garden. Living a lifestyle that is satisfying to not only you, but those around you as well, is imperative to living a life filled with success, at least when it comes to Bessie Anderson Stanley.
Successful is a simple word, however, the meaning of this word changes quite often. Each person has a different definition of success and that definition can change depending on the situation. Bob Dylan once wrote, “A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.” This a very broad definition of success and should not be used. The definition of success should be “the pursued goals have been adequately accomplished.”
Success is within the mind of the individual. A large portion of ones life is spent working to become successful. People are told throughout childhood to work hard so they can grow up and make lots of money. But success takes many different forms. Different people have different interpretations of what success means to them. For some, success is measured by social status and wealth; for others success is determined only by the amount of happiness one feels.
Ever since the times of the BC era, wealth had defined success (Definition of Success). A wealthy person of those times would be looked at as a superior being, they would be someone you’d show respect for. They were successful. Although that's the definition of success back then, does it mean something different now? Like every human being, and every past structure of society, the word evolves with time because society's’ values change. The definition of the word “success” was often considered as the achievement of wealth, but now it has become modernized to fit into today's society. Today, success is thought as an individual doing what makes them happy in life, generally doing their best, or even contributing positive things to the world to make it a better place (What does success mean).
The true definition of success is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. Although, many people have different perceptions of success. Success is judged by the individuals themselves. Success can be defined in many ways including: wealth, happiness, fame, etc. Success can be anything from material goods to concepts. It all depends on your concept and how you achieve your goals. You have to have persistence within yourself. Varying on your profession, you will need a certain skill level. Your definition of success can be suitable best for you, but not for others. It is about truly not giving up, reaching your full potential, and self-fulfillment.
Success takes many different definitions. People have different interpretations of what success really means. For me is as simple as: living well and laughing often. The idea of living well is a very broad statement. Living well, in my opinion is getting success in personal, social and professional life. If I can achieve all of these three levels of success, I believe that I have lived well.
Success is something we all wish to achieve and even though we have different definitions of success, we all want to success in different aspects of our lives. For some success, success is attaining an education, others it's getting a good job, for others it's being wealthy, and others to start and own a business while for others it's having a family of our own and seeing our children prosper. We all have different metrics of measuring success and we all have different goals, but it is part of human instinct to want success, to want to succeed in everything we do no matter how small or big. Success gives us a feeling of development and growth, a sense of gratification that we are no longer where we used to be, but rather
Success, by definition, it means to achieve a goal or purpose. To some, success might be popularity, or even getting a raise at their job; but to me, success is more about how you live. At first this statement might confuse a person, but then if one digs deeper into this response they’ll find something greater. This “something greater” is certainly not anything materialistic, rather someone’s spiritual faith and their happiness in what they do.