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Your definition of success

Simon604
edited November 2007 in General
Everyone has their own goals and ambitions in life and thats a big part of why we're here at university (unless your parents forced you to come here). But what I'm wondering is...what exactly is your definition of success? Everyone wants to be successful in life, but what is it that you consider to be a successful ending? Is it having lots of money? Helping lots of people? Achieving your career goals? Having lots of kids?? Hell, I dunno it could be anything or everything...but what is your definition of success?

Comments

  • Mike^
    edited April 2007
    i think the definition of success is:
    living a happy life, an adequate job that pays well, a family... what else?

    if u can do better than that, it's a bonus to your life ;D
  • meeshmeesh
    edited April 2007
    Success comes at different phases for me.
    Right now i feel pretty successful. i'm dirt poor, but Im doing well in school, I have an marketing/PR internship, and I have friends who I know will always be there for me and vice versa. I think that's success to me at the moment.
    Ask me in 10-15 years and my idea of success will be a lot different, and there's no telling what may happen :)
  • Insatiable
    edited May 2007
    meesh;12640 said:
    Ask me in 10-15 years and my idea of success will be a lot different, and there's no telling what may happen :)
    You're right, success is fairly relative to one's age. Plus, given that we're in school, though we may be "successful" educationally speaking, the social aspects of our lives usually suffer.

    :omg: School has ruined me for the real world!
  • basketballguy
    edited July 2007
    Success is reached when you are happy and content
  • Morro
    edited July 2007
    Happy, and able to name relatively few regrets.
  • da_prodigy
    edited September 2007
    According to Warren Buffett...doing what you love and doing it well

    and having everyone love you that you want to love you
  • illicit
    edited September 2007
    1. Success



    -not sucking
    At age 4 success is not peeing in your pants.
    At age 12 success is having friends.
    At age 16 success is having a drivers license.
    At age 20 success is having sex.
    At age 35 success is having money.
    At age 50 success is having money.
    At age 60 success is having sex.
    At age 70 success is having a drivers license.
    At age 75 success is having friends.
    At age 80 success is not peeing in your pants
  • Steven
    edited September 2007
    illicit;16305 said:
    1. Success



    -not sucking
    At age 4 success is not peeing in your pants.
    At age 12 success is having friends.
    At age 16 success is having a drivers license.
    At age 20 success is having sex.
    At age 35 success is having money.
    At age 50 success is having money.
    At age 60 success is having sex.
    At age 70 success is having a drivers license.
    At age 75 success is having friends.
    At age 80 success is not peeing in your pants
    rofl. So true. But I think success nowadays is not really defined by what you have and achieved.. its about the balance and enjoyment of your life.
  • baby e
    edited September 2007
    Success to me is being wealthy. And wealthy means that you have enough money that at any given time you can just stop working and be able to support yourself at a greater than satisfactory rate for the rest of your life.
  • Kevin M.Kevin M.
    edited September 2007
    What if you're really really wealthy but you have no friends or family to enjoy it with? Or what if you have a lot of money but are doing a job that you don't like....Money has a big part to play in things but theres a lot more that is needed to be successful. Success, in my mind goes directly with happiness...so the question really is, what makes you happy
  • Steven
    edited September 2007
    Let's put it this way. Do you think Britney Spears is a success right now?
  • baby e
    edited September 2007
    Money makes me happy.

    So do other things tho of course, but that to me is an important thing to have.

    Friends, family, and love too tho of course.
  • illicit
    edited September 2007
    success to me is not measured by what i have achieved, but by the obstacles i have overcome.
  • Master Of Illusion
    edited November 2007
    Success is surviving long enough to die at the age of sixty and that everything between is just icing on the cake. Other then that if I can just get one more chocolate chip cookie and not having to share it with anyone.
  • kt_uvic
    edited November 2007
    So you're saying that anyone who survives until 60 is a success? In today's day and age, survival is not much of a concern. I see where you're coming from though, so check out this story that someone posted on here previously:

    An American investment banker was walking by the pier of a coastal Mexican village when a fisherman docked his small boat nearby and tossed several large yellow fin tuna onto the dock.

    The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked, “How long does it take to catch them?”

    The Mexican replied: “Not very long — maybe a couple of hours, senor.”

    The American then asked why the fisherman didn’t stay out longer and catch more fish.

    The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs and was happy with that.

    The American then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

    The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my friends. I have a full and busy life which I enjoy very much.”

    The American rolled his eys and said, “I’m a Harvard MBA and could help you. Here’s what you should do: Spend more time fishing. You get more money, and with that, you buy a bigger boat. Then you can catch more fish, and buy an even bigger boat. If you work hard, then soon you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor. If that works out, then you open your own cannery. At that point you would control the product, the processing and the distribution. And, you could leave this little town and move to Mexico City, or LA and or even New York City. From there you could run the whole thing by phone, Fedex and the Internet.

    The Mexican fisherman thinks this over for a minute and then asks, “Interesting. How long will this all take?”

    The American thought for a little bit, took out his calculator and punched in some numbers, and then announced “I think you do this in only 15-20 years.”

    “But what then?”

    The American laughed and said, “Here’s the beauty of the whole thing. When the time is right you announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You could make millions!”

    The Mexican thought this over for a little longer, staring out to sea and thinking about what millions would buy. He asked, “Okay. Millions.. then what?”

    The American said, “This is the best part — you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your friends.“
  • vonnie
    edited November 2007
    baby e;16327 said:
    Money makes me happy.

    So do other things tho of course, but that to me is an important thing to have.

    Friends, family, and love too tho of course.
    We're on exactly the same sentence on the same page :)
  • Master Of Illusion
    edited November 2007
    Actually, what I am saying is without saying it is: If you can make it to 60, you are doing fine...it is not the destination...but the journey, that determines if you are successful or not. Only the person who make the journey is qualified enough to say if they are successful or not. Others can just speculate about others. Sixty is nothing then a placeholder benchmark.

    Let us all make it to sixty...be successful, by our own standards and not be miserable once we realize it was just life we are all living to the best we can.

    :)
  • Broken Lizard
    edited November 2007
    where i can murder my wife and her lover and get away with it... haha
  • Kevin M.Kevin M.
    edited November 2007
    Master of Illusion has a point. Sometimes we focus so much on where we want to be that we miss the journey, which is just as important.

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