What is "success"?

[mavismorpoth]

Obviously to be successful means you have attempted to do something abut succeed. But I'm curious, when you hear the "they are successful" what does that mean to you?

I think to most it means you earn enough to be comfortable in general.

I think it means different things to different people and is totally subjective but I wonder what others think it means when they hear it?

Happiness.

If someone is happy with themselves and their life they’re successful.

Success, like beauty, is different thing to different people.
No one can 100% say "x is success" because it only applies to them or their group, not to everyone.

When I hear that phrase I think of it in terms of money and status - so someone whos a doctor or a lawyer, for example.

To me it's being content with my life & having an inner happiness (even when things can be a bit shit) - I consider that successful.

I agree with pps and to me it means happiness and achieving something that is important to you (for me it was having fertility issues and going on to have DC).
But I know my parents saw success as having a great bank balance which I don’t have, so they view me as unsuccessful, and told me it too.

Bloody hell, that's harsh!

I know quite a few people who are very wealthy but are never happy / satisfied. Constantly comparing themselves to others and never seeming to have enough. I feel quite sorry for them (despite them having a significantly bigger house / more expensive car and better holidays than we do!).

I agree. It's being happy with your life and enjoying every day and never thinking 'I dislike my life'.

One of my favourite quotes of all time from Maya Angelou answers this: “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”

It rings true for me!

Being happy, content and financial comfortable. The last one is obviously variable and I imagine my idea of comfortable is much more than many.

Oops *financially

happiness and contentment equal success to me.

I think it means contentment, which for me means:

Feeling at ease/comfortable with yourself and your achievements
Having your needs (physical, emotional, intellectual) satisfied eg being in a happy relationship, being financially secure enough to relax about money matters and doing a job/study which stimulates you intellectually.
Good self-esteem and self-image, which derives from the above.
Feeling secure and fulfilled in your relationships, including friendships, which ought to be reciprocal and balanced and not one-sided and insecure.

It's not, for me, necessarily related to great wealth, but certainly having enough money not to have to worry about money would be an element.

Success for me would be where I could buy my children coats shoes etc Instead of them going with out especially with the cold weather also been able to afford birthdays

Yes, I agree with this. For me there’s also an element of job and financial success that’s important because I wouldn’t want to have a dead-end job or have to think about money when I want to buy something, that would be miserable.

This is something I struggle with a bit because I wish I could view myself as successful because I have my kids and a nice house etc but having such a low wage just makes me feel unsuccessful compared to others who have a better salary. I want to work towards being happy with the content description of success rather than the financial description of success.