What Does Success Mean To You?

There are many possible definitions of success. Success could mean having the resources to do the things that we want. Better still, success could mean having the capability to pursue personal interests apart from the usual obligations and duties, enjoy the finer things in life and live the life we have been dreaming about.

Success is a matter of degree, relativity and diversity. For every level of success, there is a higher level of success to be attained. We can be successful in one area (e.g., business) but not in another area (e.g., family), or we can be successful in many areas but not as much and varied as another person.


Then, there are those whose achievements or contributions are recognized by others and become recipients of accolades, giving them the aura of success. Success then breeds success, and one’s fame becomes a buoy for waves of media coverage over a good stretch of time in the sea of life. 

By the by, other people begin to see you as a success and you become a celebrity of sorts. Such a favourable vibe may indeed serve as a reasonable gauge of your success. That said, one can also be a pure success minus the trappings and remain small in your own eyes without having to blow any trumpets, so to speak.

Here are some rambling on success for your reading pleasure:

“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” – John C. Maxwell

“To do a common thing uncommonly well brings success.” – Henry John Heinz

“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” – Conrad Hilton

“Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” – Abraham Lincoln

“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” – Beverly Sills

“Success is 99 percent failure.” – Sochira Honda

“Success is not perfection; success is slightly above average.”  - anonymous

“Every worthwhile accomplishment has a price tag attached to it. The question is always whether you are willing to pay the price to attain it – in hard work, sacrifice, patience, faith, and endurance.” – John C. Maxwell

“Success is not measured by what a man accomplishes, but by the opposition he has encountered, and the courage with which he has maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.” – Charles Lindbergh

“Failure is really a matter of conceit. People don’t work hard because, in their conceit, they imagine they’ll succeed without ever making an effort. Most people believe that they’ll wake up some day and find themselves rich. Actually, they’ve got it half right, because eventually they do wake up.” – Thomas Edison

‘There are two types of people who never achieve much in their lifetime. The person who don’t do what he is told, and the person who does no more than he is told.” – Andrew Carnegie

“I long to accomplish a great and noble task; but it is my chief duty and job to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.” – Helen Keller

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden path, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeed.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

10,000 hours = success 
(According to the 10,000th rule in “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcom Gladwell)

Click here to read Q & A With Malcom Gladwell on Outliers: The Story of Success.

Hopefully, the aforesaid ideas and observations of success have given you some inspiration. Now, it’s your turn to define what success means to you.