Success: How Do We Define It?

Written by Contributor Writer Kara Weightman 

What is success? According to dictionary.com it is

“The favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishments of one’s goals.”

While this is the technical definition for success, each person has his or her own definition of the word. For some it’s landing their dream job. For others, it’s just the fact that they got out of bed in the morning. However, I think people define or measure their success based on those around them. Let me give you an example:

Growing up I always felt like I was surrounded by highly successful people. My brother graduated with a 4.0 from high school, went to college at the University of Notre Dame, and is currently at the University of Michigan for medical school. He married a woman who also graduated from Notre Dame and is a law student at the University of Michigan. My mom is a professor at Baker College and is a very successful stylist for Stella and Dot jewelry and my dad has hard worked his way up in a company. A lot of people close to me also do something related to medical/health care or business. To top it all off, my boyfriend is a law and economics major with plans on going to law school and becoming an environmental lawyer. You get the point, I am surrounded by people that continue to be successful with in their work field.

As much as I am proud of those around me, it has made me undermine my accomplishments and myself. I am a public relations major and I always down play it as “oh cool, I write things and talk to people” because in my mind, my ending career will never sound as successful or as great as a doctor, lawyer or teacher.

However, I am learning that even though I look to some people as more successful than me, there are people who look at me as more successful than them. There are a lot of people who do the same thing as I do. They look at the people around them and think just because someone they know has accomplished something huge, that what they do isn’t as great. Wrong. Success isn’t defined by comparing your accomplishments to another person’s and it’s not anyone else’s decision but your own. I believe success is whatever makes you feel proud of yourself, whether that’s becoming president of a company or passing a really hard class.

Success also does not need to be defined by your career or what society has decided for you. Sometime, success is just graduating from college, passing that class you wanted or growing into the person you have wanted to be.Comparing your successes to someone elses will never help you reach your own goals or make your happy. We each are given a certain life to live, different passions and unique things about ourselves. One of the best things about our lives is since success is defined differently by anyone, you get to decide what is successful to you. Do what makes you happen and when you meet your goals you can feel accomplished in knowing you have succeed surpass what you thought you could. Everyone has their own definition and idea of what makes them successful.