Throughout the course of our lives, we tend to define success by numbers, whether that be how much money we make, the GPA you graduated with, or the number of clients you see in a week. When actually success does not have a set definition, and it shouldn't, because everyone has their own goals for life and their own plan for themselves. Success should be determined by the individual. Everyone has their own definition of what success looks like to them. Some people see owning a massive house and a Ferrari as the moment that they finally made it. While others see being genuinely happy with themselves, a husband or wife, and living in a decent home with kids, as their definition of success.
Furthermore, we use numbers to essentially pin genders against each other and create competition. From the number of females that graduate college versus the number of males, to how successful each gender is after graduation, numbers and statistics consume and define the traditional success story.
Using numbers to define success starts at an early age, particularly from the time one enters high school, through college, and even into adulthood, we continuously look down on ourselves if we don't fit into a general range of something. This ranges from our GPA in both high school and college, our SAT scores, our salary, and our credit score.
For starters, one of the biggest challenges soon to be adults and young adults face is their GPA. It is weird to think that such a number can have a tremendous impact on our lives, but it truly does. Ones GPA can be the defining moment of whether they get into their dream college, or any college for that matter. It also has an impact on the way others perceive you. Many people look at someone with less than a 3.0 GPA as a slacker, when they truly have no idea what that person could be going through for it to have dropped. In addition, ones GPA could be lower because they are not a good test taker or get overwhelmed with stress when a test is placed before them. GPA does not determine a person, nor the success they will achieve.
Secondly, SAT scores have a huge impact on getting into college, which is once again a challenge for those who are not good test takers. The SAT is hard, and anyone who has taken it knows how challenging it can be, even for those who tend to test well. This just shows that once again, our success in life is being defined by a number, this time, a grade on a test.
Furthermore, our potential to be successful is judged based solely off of our choice in major and the profession we choose to go into. For example, the fine arts tends to be looked down upon because they aren't choosing to be a doctor or a lawyer, but when they do go into that kind of profession, their success becomes defined by the number of clients brought in per week. Rather than whether you are truly happy and passionate about that field.
After graduation, we begin to be judged by how many figures we bring in a year and what we do with that money. Whether we buy a nice, fancy house with matching his and hers cars in the driveway, or live in a lower class neighborhood to conserve and save up money. Once again, success is being determined by statistics and materialistic things, rather than what really matters which is how we feel about ourselves and whether we are truly happy or not.
Lastly, credit scores have an immense impact on what we do with the money being brought in. They define whether we can have that nice Ferrari, or purchase the fancy house with a pool, which again are materialistic things that when people look at your life and think, "Wow, that is success. That is my ultimate goal."
Numbers define almost every aspect of our lives, and not just in a way that defines our success, for that is just one example. In a society so driven by numbers, it is almost impossible to not have a set definition of success. You may never bring in 6 figures, but if you are truly happy with your job, your family, and your life, then you are a success. Success should never be defined by numbers, it should be defined by your own heart and mind.
