What Is Success and How Do You Define It?

When I was a kid, there was one subject that was repeatedly given to us for essay writing class: “Which one is better, knowledge or wealth?” It was a real cliché and the essays students wrote were also mostly stereotypical.

On the one side, there is little doubt that you are successful if you achieve your desired visions and planned goals. As such, happiness and success are mostly a subjective state and you can’t rely on any specific objective metric to measure it. You can’t just say that anyone who has achieved a certain level of skill, wealth, social status, etc is successful. Success for any individual has a specific meaning.

The problem with a subjective definition is that we don’t always have a clear-cut vision for ourselves. Going back to the above-mentioned cliché, we usually want both knowledge and wealth. Besides, even if you have chosen a clear path, at what level do you reach satisfaction with your performance?

I think that success should be defined based on the realization of the capabilities and potentials of each individual. The more you realize your capabilities and potentials, the more successful you are.

Do you even remember the dreams you had for your future when you were a kid? Did you follow those dreams or did you choose another path based on the limitations and hurdles of the real world? I think it is never too late to start following your dreams, and to attempt to realize all your potentials.