What’s Your Definition of Success?

December 20, 2009

Click the title of the video below to leave a comment on YouTube.

Success is a social issue. A lot of people define it in a lot of different ways in our culture. Some people equate it with financial success. Ok I think a LOT of people do that. And I think that’s kind of lame, which was the impetus behind my choosing Success as a topic for some social commentary video action. It’s just interesting to me that most people will readily admit that there’s more to life than money, yet so many people say success means a nice big house, a dream car, or other material possessions. I thought that contradiction was lame. But after doing this online show on it and hearing other people’s two cents, I realized that, just like success can mean a lot of things to people, money can mean different things to different people, too. To some people, success means money, but only because they want to ensure their kids go to college and have what they need to be happy. Some people see success as money because then they can send money to loved ones far away so they can have the basic necessities in life. So after yapping with people on the topic, my feelings toward people who immediately equate success with money has changed a bit. My own personal definition of success is still not about having money, but maybe that’s because I’ve never gone without shoes or a roof over my head. I am not a rich human, but I do live in the US, and we in general have more than many other countries as a society on the whole. So maybe my lofty definition of success — wanting to make a positive difference in the world — is only a definition someone with enough money can afford. Deep, right? What’s your two cents on the social issue of defining success?