X

How Do YOU Define Success?

When you think of success, what comes to mind? One might say success is bringing home lots of money. Another might say that success is feeling like you’re satisfied. A third person may disagree and say that success is feeling consistently productive and accomplished. Or that you’re lucky. Or that you’re happy without a worry in the world. What elements comprise your recipe for success, and how do you define it?

I leveraged my large community of Twitter followers to get a sense of how people define success. Even in this economy, the collective decided that if you’re happy, you’re successful.

@rickjulian (rickjulian) says:
@tamar loving what you do; doing what you love, and making enough money to sustain it.

@timstaines (Tim Staines) says:
@tamar the result of achieving goals

@ShirleyTipsy (Audrey Seiberling) says:
@tamar When I walk in the front door each night, if I have the ability to smile & the energy to cook dinner after working all day… SUCCESS

@abourland (Anna Bourland) says:
@tamar Success: Feeling satisfied with who you are and where you are without apathy or complacency while positively affecting others.

@curiosidad (curiosidad) says:
@tamar I also like: "Success is a multidimensional destination of continuous improvement" also from my book. Send the link 2 ur blog.

@curiosidad (curiosidad) says:
@tamar "Success is to be ready when the opportunity comes" – I mentioned this in my book "Connecting My Dots"

@Moonvine (Joan Adams) says:
@tamar Success is health, happiness, joy, prosperity, harmony and inner peace

@mrinal_desai (Mrinal Desai) says:
@tamar another one – success = having a FUNomenal journey

@sbspalding (Steve Spalding) says:
@tamar Being able to do what makes you happy, comfortably, for the maximum amount of time.

@mrinal_desai (Mrinal Desai) says:
@tamar Success = Being Happy with your journey with an eye on your destination

@amiecn (amie) says:
@tamar HHH — having health, happiness, & hope

@petewailes (Pete Wailes) says:
@tamar or to put it another way, being at the point where you’re content with your life

@petewailes (Pete Wailes) says:
@tamar having what you want, and wanting what you have, and not lusting after anything else

@qualityfrog (Ben Simo) says:
@tamar SUCCESS: satisfactory (good enough) accomplishment of a goal

@opengiga (OPEN GIGA) says:
@tamar do works with great passions and should be creative.

@seohonolulu (seohonolulu) says:
@tamar here’s how you do it; "ZOMG I ROCK"

@boredcollegekid (Jared Eberle) says:
@tamar At the end of the day, being able to fully say that I’m happy and have no regrets.

@perryhewitt (Perry Hewitt) says:
@tamar success is pursuing your interests and activities on your own terms rather than at the whim of others

@Matt_Siltala (Matt Siltala) says:
@tamar I can define it with one word – Happiness!

@michellereno (michellereno) says:
@tamar: "The most practical, beautiful, workable philosophy in the world won’t work – if you won’t." – Zig Ziglar

@kim_cre8pc (Kim Krause Berg) says:
@tamar lucky. 5 letters 🙂

@deansguide (dean guadagni) says:
@tamar "Success is knowing ur creating a career based on ur passionate interests, helping people succeed, and leaving a legacy of peace

@missmcj (misscj) says:
@tamar Being the best person you can be 🙂

@josh_sternberg (josh sternberg) says:
@tamar success is waking up in the morning. everything else is cake.

What About You?

Lateral Action readers, what have you achieved when you feel successful? Do you find that you are reaching success on a consistent basis? Share your tips in the comments!

About the Author: Tamar Weinberg is Lateral Action’s Associate Editor. Tamar is a former contributor to Lifehacker and displays her skills as a social media maven at her blog Techipedia.

Tamar Weinberg:

View Comments (18)

  • Success is achieving your goals. But true success requires planning goals that fulfil your values and your mission - something most people never think about.

  • Being able to do what makes you "happy".

    It seems deceptively easy, but it is incredibly hard to take the decisions and make the choices that will eventually contribute to "happiness" in life. Success is ALL about the journey inwards ...the outside journey is only a tool to move inwards.

    my 2 cents :)

    Maya
    http://www.geekdance.com
    http://www.thinkmaya.com

  • Success is happiness acknowledged. That's 33 chars by the way. So plenty of room for some rest after you find success :-)

    Strange how we write about the same topics on a such short timeframe: being successful.

    Thanks for a fresh approach on this one.

  • When I know I have made a difference in making the world a bit better than before, I feel happy and successful!

  • Truly liking yourself enough to wish others happiness (some find this so hard to do); and being courageous enough to take risks.

  • Balancing the desire for high standard in what I produce while helping others in print or on the phone, combined with earning a fair and reasonable income.

    Great question!

    Roger
    PS: Get started on that book!

  • Success is contextual, isn't it?

    If you're talking about your career, maybe it's having a job you love. If you're talking about your finances, maybe it's having $1 million. If you're talking about relationships, maybe it's about loving and being loved back.

    People have been searching for a meta definition for words like "success," "love," and "life" for centuries, and no one has come up with anything that satisfies everyone. The reason, I believe, is we don't think in meta terms. We think in specific ones.

    For me, success is surviving pneumonia 16 times and being one of the oldest people in the world with SMA Type II. Success is being partnered with Brian Clark. Success is living in a condo on the best side of town and being within walking distance of everywhere I like to go.

    Then again, I think way too much about stuff like this. Of course, I'd also argue that's what makes me successful. :-)

  • Ultimately, success may mean having enough of the appropriate resources to be able to do as much of what you want, whenever you want, with whomever you want (willing participants, of course).

1 2