Explain What Success Means To Me Essay

What Success Means to Me

When I am old, I will consider my life to be a success based on moments of happiness. I say that now, after having redefined what the word ‘success’ means to me. The culture I was raised in taught me that success was based on status, and the typical way to gain that status was to be a lawyer, doctor, or an engineer. I was told that if I chose one of those three career paths, I would have respect, financial security, and that I would even attract a suitable and equally respected husband. All in all, I would be successful because of my status, and happiness would be a byproduct. That notion changed after I began college.
I came to UT and declared myself a biology major, so that I could become a doctor one day. I set a goal and went through the motions to achieve it. Unfortunately, I struggled to meet that goal due to my lack of purpose and motivation. I realized that even if I became a doctor, my status would not be enough to make me happy, and if I was not happy, I would not be truly successful.
Since then, success has been less about social status and more about the milestones in my life. In order to be successful, I need my milestones to bring

Surprisingly, I found that I was more productive at work. It never occurred to me that others could influence my work ethic until recently. I received a promotion and a raise at my current job, but that did not necessarily incentivize me to work harder. My promotion felt like a success, but only for a while. The job became more of a burden, due to some of the people I work with, and it was no longer fulfilling. After having learned to deal with negativity, I was able to focus on the purpose of my work rather than the people. This brought back my intrinsic motivation and happiness. I am now prepared to take what I learned here and apply it to a future milestone; my postgraduate