What defines being successful?

Non-investing personal finance issues including insurance, credit, real estate, taxes, employment and legal issues such as trusts and wills.
Topic Author
ChrisO
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Joined: Fri May 11, 2018 8:07 am

What defines being successful?

Post by ChrisO »

Hello, I am looking for some insight from the wise crowd. I finished my degree about 2 years ago, and I should be making 6 figures in about 2.5 years. I finished my degree later in life (age 29) since I changed my major about 5 times. As a child, I always believed, (and told by some people) that once you make 6 figures or more you have made it. I am single, so I don't want to just focus on the financial part of my life, but I m also unsure if I ever want kids. So how do we know we "made it"? I like my job, I get to help people, and my current life is pretty good; however, I feel like something is still missing. Do we just keep making goals and work towards them and once we reach them move on to a new one? Does this define us being successful? Is it how many people's lives we have touched? Is it how other's view us? or is it something else? Thanks.
KneeReplacementTutor
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by KneeReplacementTutor »

You have "made it" when your work is something you are passionate about and you are contributing to others in some way.
sailaway
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by sailaway »

There is no "made it." Life is in constant flux.

Are you reasonably happy?

Are you reasonably healthy?

Are you using your income in a way that reflects your values and your future goals?

That last one will actually have a big impact on the first over time! Don't worry much about how people view you, but except perhaps as it reflects your values (ie, are you projecting your values.

Each milestone can be seen as a success, but happiness and fulfillment are long games.
iamblessed
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by iamblessed »

For me my Christian faith is number one. Money is not. I know many millionaires that chase money day and night. I don't want to be like that.
jebmke
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by jebmke »

early in my working life I made a personal pledge to try to avoid making decisions about my career and where I live based on money.
Don't trust me, look it up. https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions-and-publications
Normchad
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by Normchad »

It will be different for everybody.

On one level, if you can feed yourself and provide shelter, that is success.

You mention touching people’s lives. I think that’s important; or more broadly making the world a better place.

Setting goals, working towards them, then setting new goals is certainly a good way to go about it.

I wonder how many people will come to my funeral. That’s how I think of success.
lessismore22
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by lessismore22 »

While many equate financial accomplishments with success, I had a mentor years ago sum it up for me when I was starting my business. He said you'll know you're successful in business when you no longer have to do the things you don't enjoy. A couple years in I had hired a team to handle the day-to-day stuff I didn't enjoy and have been able to focus solely on what I do. I feel very fortunate/successful.
acegolfer
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by acegolfer »

Personally, the goal post is always moving. When young, like yourself, I wanted my salary to reach X. After achieving that goal, the goal became pay off mortgage. Then networth reach Y, etc.
yules
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by yules »

ChrisO wrote: Fri Jan 22, 2021 8:57 am Hello, I am looking for some insight from the wise crowd. I finished my degree about 2 years ago, and I should be making 6 figures in about 2.5 years. I finished my degree later in life (age 29) since I changed my major about 5 times. As a child, I always believed, (and told by some people) that once you make 6 figures or more you have made it. I am single, so I don't want to just focus on the financial part of my life, but I m also unsure if I ever want kids. So how do we know we "made it"? I like my job, I get to help people, and my current life is pretty good; however, I feel like something is still missing. Do we just keep making goals and work towards them and once we reach them move on to a new one? Does this define us being successful? Is it how many people's lives we have touched? Is it how other's view us? or is it something else? Thanks.
Don't define making it as making 6 figures because:
(1) the reasons others already have stated
(2) six figures in San Francisco or New York is a lot different from six figures in Mississippi or Alabama! Context and cost of living is important

Good luck funding your bliss!

Yules
kamikazekid
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by kamikazekid »

I think it varies. What gives you the deepest satisfaction? Usually it will be a confluence of personal, professional and some element of religious/spritual. When you have these elements in some sort of a balance, you will feel at ease. Making it is a journey and not a destination.
I work in the Medical Device industry. I find my work satisfying and pays well. I am married to a level headed ambitious spouse who complements me perfectly and us each other. We are our daughter plus another kid due soon and trying to inculcate in them the best of eastern and western values (I am an immigrant). I work out regularly, play sports regularly and have a decent circle of friends and family that I call on for help.
We are all in good health , have a job. I feel blessed ! Does that mean I wont try to improve myself ? No. But perspective taking helps me realize how lucky I am and perhaps "I have made it".
Its all in your needs and attitude.
surfstar
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by surfstar »

Start here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSyHWMdH9gk

Then maybe explore some mindfulness ala Sam Harris.


We're not fulfilled by working. Making money is simply our way to get to the next step - early retirement. Hopefully 45-50 ages. In the meantime we do what we enjoy on the weekends (although severely limited by the pandemic) and these are the activities we would do fulltime in our retirement.
Surfing, climbing, camping, SCUBA, backpacking, travel, snowboarding, and on...
livesoft
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by livesoft »

If everyone had the same definition of "being successful", then the world would be pretty boring place.
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KlangFool
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by KlangFool »

OP,


The journey is the reward.

If you do all you can for today, you are successful today. And, you learn and grow from your mistake today, you are successful today.

There are more than two alternatives: win or lose. You can choose to grow and learn. If you are better today than yesterday, you are successful today.


Life is a marathon! Learn a little, grow a little, live a little, give a little. Then, over a long period, you would have done a lot.

You are not me or any other person. There is no point to compare with others. Compare yourself today versus yesterday. Seek growth and improvement in yourself instead.


KlangFool
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LittleMaggieMae
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by LittleMaggieMae »

You get to decide if you are successful or not. Or, you can chase after what you heard/were told were important.

Here's a little personal example from the olden days. I grew up in an old school family - as a female - I should look forward to getting married, a house with a picket fence, and raising children. That would be a successful life for me. I wasn't too keen on having kids (I can barely manage myself - what if I left I kid at the park by accident????) but the other stuff sounded ok. I didn't really think about it - I assumed if I did everything I was told to do I'd find mister right and get the house with a picket fence and then I'd be happy and successful. I did not go that route. But it was a common route for many women. And it often didn't bring happiness or success. I wound up staying single (but I did get the house). I did a lot of soul searching (introspection) in my late 20's and 30's - when I realized that the things that I thought might mean "success" weren't really about feelings of happiness/success. They were just cultural/social norms.

(for the record - I do know women and men for whom having kids and a house ARE signs of their success. They live for their kids and the joy a house full of activity/friends/family brings. Nothing wrong with that. :) I find joy in other people having/finding joy themselves. I do not want what they have - but since they are happy - I can be happy for them.)

Where I'm going is - you need to know yourself to determine if you are a 'success' or not. You need to determine if the things you are told show success are meaningful to you. If they aren't you need to figure out what your measure of success is. If you know what you value (not assuming that what you are told to value is what you should value) in life and then use those values to make decisions you will towards success/happiness. I don't think people figure out what they 'value' during a couple of hours of thought on a tuesday night. I think it takes time and is a journey of sorts (sometimes difficult and uncomfortable). Just be aware that what one values does change over time.

My best advice would be to set up some sort of automatic savings before you begin your journey (even if it hurts alittle to do so - as in you may only be able to do fun stuff 3 weekends in a row and not the 4th weekend, rinse and repeat for the next month. ) That way - while you are exploring and discovering what you 'value' in life... you'll be building savings/investments. And when you are ready to take on financial stuff you'll have something to work with.

FWIW: In Real Life: I find people who ONLY value money and status to be rather shallow and sometimes compassionless and cold. as they grow older they judge all things by how it effects their "status" and "money". They complain alot even though they have plenty of money and nice things and seem to view other people as a "way to increase their money or status" and treat them as such (nice to the people they think will make them look better/add to their money, condesending/dismissive/mean to the people who won't make them look better/add to their money) .

It's ok to value having money and status - just don't loose sight of the human side of the equation. You can have money and status and be a good/trying to be better person. part of being successful is being a better Person. Being a better person is a life long journey. And a worthy goal to achieve.
Last edited by LittleMaggieMae on Fri Jan 22, 2021 9:55 am, edited 2 times in total.
6bquick
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by 6bquick »

KlangFool wrote: Fri Jan 22, 2021 9:26 am OP,


The journey is the reward.

KlangFool
This is very insightful. At the risk of waxing philosophical, we all only get one go-round on this ride and for most it ends too soon. So enjoying/embracing/appreciating the routine and monotony that is life IS success.

Admittedly, its easier said than done and I struggle with this too.

I also feel that "financial success" is being able to help or donate at will without second thought.
If your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall
Topic Author
ChrisO
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by ChrisO »

Thanks for the tips everyone. I know I value health, continuous learning, and trying to make the world a better place.
ddurrett896
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by ddurrett896 »

relationship with family and friends.
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Abe
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by Abe »

The essay titled "The Station" by Robert Hastings has always helped me put things in perspective.

http://www.hobodrifter.com/the-station/
Slow and steady wins the race.
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backofbeyond
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by backofbeyond »

To reach an amount of stability that provides the quality of life you desire.

However, to add a bit of humor, to make $10,000 more than your brother-in-law.
The question isn't at what age I want to retire, it is at what income. - George Foreman
lessismore22
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by lessismore22 »

backofbeyond wrote: Fri Jan 22, 2021 10:15 am However, to add a bit of humor, to make $10,000 more than your brother-in-law.
Tongue only partially in cheek, I hope. Cause it DOES feel great to out-earn my BILs :sharebeer
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jakehefty17
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by jakehefty17 »

To me, being successful is...

Happiness. Fulfillment. Growth. Staying healthy and positive. Developing & maintaining meaningful relationships. Contributing to your community. Setting & maintaining goals. Staying true to commitments.

When I think of people I see as "successful", that's what comes to mind.

There are different levels of success. People will achieve pieces and parts of success throughout their lifetimes. Life has ups and downs.

A guy I work with has a saying I'm fond of... "all you can do is the best you can do"
"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." -Charles Bukowski
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Sandtrap
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by Sandtrap »

ChrisO wrote: Fri Jan 22, 2021 8:57 am Hello, I am looking for some insight from the wise crowd. I finished my degree about 2 years ago, and I should be making 6 figures in about 2.5 years. I finished my degree later in life (age 29) since I changed my major about 5 times. As a child, I always believed, (and told by some people) that once you make 6 figures or more you have made it. I am single, so I don't want to just focus on the financial part of my life, but I m also unsure if I ever want kids. So how do we know we "made it"? I like my job, I get to help people, and my current life is pretty good; however, I feel like something is still missing. Do we just keep making goals and work towards them and once we reach them move on to a new one? Does this define us being successful? Is it how many people's lives we have touched? Is it how other's view us? or is it something else? Thanks.
OP: For you.

Like a Chocolate Chip Cookie, you are not long out of the oven and still warm, still flexible, not rigid or set yet no crunchy hard outside layer.

Having spent all of "adulthood" in a structured protected environment as a full time student, even someone with a PhD, is still not long out of the oven despite seeming like the years are large.. . . compared to someone age 80 who is 60+ years out of the oven and a fully matured cookie.

So, don't fret.
Pursue your career, have fun with your vocations and avocations, and passions from serious to frivolous.
As life happens so your "self" will coalesce. You have book learning, the next is experiential and to be experienced.

Read in paperback. Underline and yellow highlight and dog ear the pages for the next few years, every day.
"Life Code" by Dr. Phil MacGraw (Learn about BAITERS who prey on freshly baked cookies).
https://www.amazon.com/Life-Code-Rules- ... 645&sr=8-1
"Life Strategies" by Dr. Phil MacGraw (have a plan with clarity and drive).
https://www.amazon.com/Life-Strategies- ... 695&sr=8-1

Why these 2 books?
Because they are deceptively simple, emphasis on practical and "real life" vs academic and conceptual. Focuses on people and interactions and life and doing vs thinking and reading and more thinking.

Have you ever thought of going to a very traditional Japanese Karate Class 2x/week, just for you? (Not "Rex Kwon Do" or "All Valley Combat Club").

What is "successful"?
An artificial construct defined differently per person, per culture, per society, per today's news, per one YouTube video, per someone's "blog", based on individual cognition in the moment.

j :D
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Shallowpockets
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by Shallowpockets »

This is America. Successful is money and/or power. Or at least the trappings of wealth and the illusion of power. Only when you get past those may look around at your "success" and ruminate on successful. At that point you may refashion the definition of success for yourself.
Your first goal now is to achieve that 6 figure income that others have told you about. But don't linger there, others are ahead of that, and there is your next chase.




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basspond
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by basspond »

You will never reach full success until you embrace that there is something better and bigger then yourself. After that everything else will fall into place. In addition, our children’s success is a huge part of our success now.
Jim Beaux
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by Jim Beaux »

Satisfaction
Pandemic Bangs
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by Pandemic Bangs »

KneePartsPro wrote: Fri Jan 22, 2021 9:01 am You have "made it" when your work is something you are passionate about and you are contributing to others in some way.
+1
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knightrider
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by knightrider »

Shallowpockets wrote: Fri Jan 22, 2021 10:47 am This is America. Successful is money and/or power. Or at least the trappings of wealth and the illusion of power.
How about "struggling artists" types? There are many "pseudo-pro" musicians, actors, comedians, athletes etc.. who earn very little.

At the other extreme are some fresh off the boat IT programmer from India earning 6 figures with little to no understanding of the culture they live in.
csmath
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by csmath »

Personally I think that happiness is a terrible definition of success because it frequently leads to "do what makes you happy" which leads to decisions focused on instant gratification with long term drawbacks that far too frequently end up being "other peoples fault". I'll stop there!

The real answer is... There is no one answer and the question itself is far too broad and severely personal.

Here is one thing I will add:

Don't compare yourself to the people around you if they aren't going to be successful at your own personal goals. It is very likely that the average person around you will fail at your specific goals so look at people that either have or are very likely to reach your own goals and compare yourself to them.

In other words, being average among failures makes you a failure, so make sure if you're settling for average that you're average among successful peers.
7eight9
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by 7eight9 »

Success is whatever one wants to define it as.

How others define it really doesn't matter.

In 100 years nobody will remember your name or whether you were "successful" or not.
I guess it all could be much worse. | They could be warming up my hearse.
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Gattamelata
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by Gattamelata »

ChrisO, you're getting a lot of great advice here. I'd like to call out two things that I've read here as being especially resonant to my experiences.

The first is LittleMaggieMae's post, all of which is excellent.
LittleMaggieMae wrote: Fri Jan 22, 2021 9:42 am You get to decide if you are successful or not. Or, you can chase after what you heard/were told were important.
The US is a rather traditional society in the sense that there's a very well-beaten, very narrow track through life that is offered as the example of happiness. There are uncommon exceptions, but for the most part the lights and the pavement show only a very limited segment of the ways people can live and find happiness. Finding your own best way can be hard if it turns out to be off the pavement, but it's worth it. I'm like LittleMaggieMae in that I'm unconventional. It took years for me to figure that out about myself, but it has been well worth the realization.

So: get to know yourself. Don't expect it to happen instantly. And let your self-knowledge guide how you define success.


The second bit of wisdom is from your own original post:
ChrisO wrote: Fri Jan 22, 2021 8:57 am So how do we know we "made it"? I like my job, I get to help people, and my current life is pretty good; however, I feel like something is still missing. Do we just keep making goals and work towards them and once we reach them move on to a new one? Does this define us being successful? Is it how many people's lives we have touched? Is it how other's view us? or is it something else? Thanks.
You're onto something, here. On to many things. I strongly recommend that you cultivate this restlessness within yourself. Total contentment is also total stagnation. Allow some of your goals to be moving targets. Discard others once you've met them, and find new ones to replace them. Continue to grow, to challenge yourself, to find new things to strive for. As KlangFool suggested, the striving is the essence of living. If you acquire a goal, meet it, and then move on to something else, this doesn't make you a dilettante, it makes you interesting. It makes you somebody who continues to learn and grow beyond the strict requirements of survival. It makes you human.
JPM
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by JPM »

Random thoughts on success.

A long happy marriage is maybe the most satisfying type of success in life. It doesn't just happen because you were lucky enough to pick the right partner when you were 19, 29, or whatever age when you made that decision. You make it happen by overcoming the obstacles to its achievement. The biggest obstacle may be yourself.

Mental illness is far more common than American culture and its ideals would suggest. People afflicted with it struggle with work life and personal life. Current treatment makes a satisfying life possible for them, but doesn't make it easy to achieve

Being a young dad with a growing family were probably the glory days in my life and the lives of many of my friends. Most of us had our kids in our twenties when young and relatively poor. Not always fun at the time, but those are the years I look back on with the most satisfaction.

Professional success has been gratifying and the money has been very nice but it's not as satisfying as a satisfying personal life. Long hours at work do not have to destroy personal life, but you need to have and be a capable supportive partner both in marriage and in business/professional life. It helped to schedule regular family time, and regular time with each child starting from when they were first sentient so that I developed a relationship with each. Some parts of our scheduled evenings together in those years ended up spent in ERs or ICUs but each could count on my attention for at least some of their designated evening each week.
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Petrocelli
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by Petrocelli »

Value of your watch.
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wander
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by wander »

Raise your kids well and they are being more successful than you are.
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AerialWombat
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by AerialWombat »

1) Not homeless
2) Not in prison

That’s how I define success. Celebrating 12 consecutive years of success in 2021!
This post is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real financial advice is purely coincidental.
Thegame14
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by Thegame14 »

having a job that is 40 hours a week or less, you make enough money to afford the things you need and some of the things you want, being happily married, with well adjusted, empathetic children, and a belief and faith in God.
TheLaughingCow
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by TheLaughingCow »

When 75% of people would willingly swap your life with their own, given the chance.
Williams57
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by Williams57 »

Liking the person that you are.
MathIsMyWayr
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by MathIsMyWayr »

You are successful if you realize one day that you are no longer obssessed with being successful.
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by IMO »

Success is when you're a pretty average, or even ugly guy for that matter, and somehow you find yourself with a Supermodel wife and the financial obligations that come with that don't bother you.

Success is personal, I feel my life has overall been very successful. You may or may not agree with me.
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nisiprius
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by nisiprius »

First of all, you do have to distinguish more than one accepted meaning of "success." There is a whole subculture of "success" in which success simply means achieving wealth. There used to be a magazine literally entitled "Success." (Checking: there still is: Success.) Various gurus associated with the subculture included Napoleon Hill (author of Think and Grow Rich) and W. Clement Stone, coauthor with Hill of Success through a Positive Mental Attitude and author of The Success System that Never Fails. I heard Stone speak once; it was fairly weird in my opinion, and I am sorry to say that the only thing I really remember from it was him smacking his fist into his cupped and and chanting "Repetition! Repetition! Repetition! Repetition!" Now I'll move on because I don't belong to that subculture. Not my thing.

It may or may not be helpful to bring in Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs:

Image

If we are fortunate enough to achieve the three lower levels, we are then working on the upper two. Perhaps you have been focussing on prestige and esteem needs, and realizing that you have not gotten where you want to be in terms of self-actualization.

Speaking strictly personally, I get pleasure from the feeling of making progress along some intriguing path, and I think more in terms of "this seems pretty cool, I wonder where I will get to if I follow this path."

I think it is a fairly common experience to find that pursuing goals is nourishing, but that achieving them often seem feels empty or unsatisfying. Your friends and family are so excited at seeing you graduate (say) and you actually feel a little stressed, as if you have to pretend to feel happier about it than you feel in order not to disappoint them.

It is not rare to feel some degree of imposter syndrome, in which high achievers doubt their ability or achievements and fear being exposed as a fraud.

Here's a quotation that I like, that has some relation to the idea of "success." Sorry it's so long, I can't see my way to cutting it:
In the novel 'The Way of All Flesh,' Samuel Butler wrote:My father’s face would always brighten when old Pontifex’s name was mentioned. “I tell you, Edward,” he would say to me, “old Pontifex was not only an able man, but he was one of the very ablest men that ever I knew.”

This was more than I as a young man was prepared to stand. “My dear father,” I answered, “what did he do? He could draw a little, but could he to save his life have got a picture into the Royal Academy exhibition? He built two organs and could play the Minuet in Samson on one and the March in Scipio on the other; he was a good carpenter and a bit of a wag; he was a good old fellow enough, but why make him out so much abler than he was?”

“My boy,” returned my father, “you must not judge by the work, but by the work in connection with the surroundings. Could Giotto or Filippo Lippi, think you, have got a picture into the Exhibition? Would a single one of those frescoes we went to see when we were at Padua have the remotest chance of being hung, if it were sent in for exhibition now? Why, the Academy people would be so outraged that they would not even write to poor Giotto to tell him to come and take his fresco away. Phew!” continued he, waxing warm, “if old Pontifex had had Cromwell’s chances he would have done all that Cromwell did, and have done it better; if he had had Giotto’s chances he would have done all that Giotto did, and done it no worse; as it was, he was a village carpenter, and I will undertake to say he never scamped a job in the whole course of his life.”
Last edited by nisiprius on Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:34 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
Goal33
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by Goal33 »

I know there's a lot more to it than money... but when I am referencing success, I am talking purely financial.

Just irks me when I get corrected that "success is more than money" - well yes, but from the context, you know I am not talking about the other attributes which are subjective and hard to gauge.
Jim Beaux
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by Jim Beaux »

Petrocelli wrote: Fri Jan 22, 2021 5:33 pm Value of your watch.
YOu know he didnt pay for it 8-)
Grt2bOutdoors
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

The pleasure of knowing with each interaction I helped create a better outcome in someone's life.
"One should invest based on their need, ability and willingness to take risk - Larry Swedroe" Asking Portfolio Questions
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Sandtrap
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by Sandtrap »

Grt2bOutdoors wrote: Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:46 pm The pleasure of knowing with each interaction I helped create a better outcome in someone's life.
+1
Perfect!

Mahalo
j :D
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Sandtrap
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by Sandtrap »

KneePartsPro wrote: Fri Jan 22, 2021 9:01 am You have "made it" when your work is something you are passionate about and you are contributing to others in some way.
+1 Yes!
Well said!!

Thanks!!
Aloha
j :D
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geerhardusvos
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by geerhardusvos »

ChrisO wrote: Fri Jan 22, 2021 8:57 am Hello, I am looking for some insight from the wise crowd. I finished my degree about 2 years ago, and I should be making 6 figures in about 2.5 years. I finished my degree later in life (age 29) since I changed my major about 5 times. As a child, I always believed, (and told by some people) that once you make 6 figures or more you have made it. I am single, so I don't want to just focus on the financial part of my life, but I m also unsure if I ever want kids. So how do we know we "made it"? I like my job, I get to help people, and my current life is pretty good; however, I feel like something is still missing. Do we just keep making goals and work towards them and once we reach them move on to a new one? Does this define us being successful? Is it how many people's lives we have touched? Is it how other's view us? or is it something else? Thanks.
Depends on who you ask. For me, here is what a full life looks like:

[Religious comments removed by admin LadyGeek]
Being someone my children look up to
Serving others and putting others before myself
The ability to do something you love or passionate even if it takes sacrifices

Nothing about what the world considers success or fame or happiness makes any sense to me. It really doesn’t have anything to do with money or this world for me, and I am thankful for all I have been given and the opportunity to love and serve my family.
VTSAX and chill
Dottie57
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by Dottie57 »

Success is when you have family and friends you love and who love you. Success is being able to financially sustain yourself.
csan
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by csan »

Abe wrote: Fri Jan 22, 2021 10:06 am The essay titled "The Station" by Robert Hastings has always helped me put things in perspective.

http://www.hobodrifter.com/the-station/
Thanks for this
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burritoLover
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by burritoLover »

Maybe stop worrying about trying to assign some label to describe your life
Doctor Rhythm
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Re: What defines being successful?

Post by Doctor Rhythm »

You’re barely in your 30’s. If you spend too much time thinking about this, then what will you have left to angst over when you’re middle-aged?

That said, there’s a Japanese concept of Ikigai that I find intriguing:

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