What Is Success, Really?

“Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.”

Success is a varied term, and it means different to different people. For students, it might be to be able to secure good marks, for teachers it could be that their students are performing well, for a parent it can be the satisfaction of providing their children with good education and basic amenities on a daily basis, and the list goes on and on.

A recent study was conducted by a well known corporate organization. The employees were divided into two groups. One group was told to share their point of view on what success means to them. 

Similarly, the other group was asked to share their thoughts on what failure looks to them. What followed next was an interesting sight to witness.

The first set of employees said that receiving a good salary, work life balance, incentives, cash bonus and an understanding boss are some of the parameters of success for them. On the other hand, the second group of people said that inability to fulfil family’s expectations, sometimes not being able to work according to their own terms and conditions unlike an entrepreneur and tough bosses are some of their parameters that can be counted as failures. 

After much discussion, it was found that what was success to one person can be a failure to the other and vice-versa. But the only underlying factor which remained constant in all these thoughts was that SUCCESS is the ability to find your true worth and making sure each day you’re loving what you’re working on.

A much simpler understanding would be that a successful person is someone who looks forward to the next day. That person finds happiness in their tasks and each day feels like a blessing to go one more step towards their goals.