Success, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is "the fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame". From a young age we are taught that we must strive for success in school and later on, for success in life.

But what does that mean?

As previously defined by a dictionary's standpoint, success is having reached a certain level o fame, respect or social standing. We have always been taught that people who are famous are successful, people in power are successful, and people who have large houses with an even larger income are successful. When asked who we think is successful, most of the time names like Bill Gates, Barack Obama or Beyoncé come to mind. What if fame, fortune and stature weren't the only ways to measure how successful a person is?

We have always been taught that those three things were the major, and only, factors in being seen as successful, and because of that we fail to see the other ways a person can achieve success. You see, the dictionary left out one major form of measurement in my eyes, that being happiness.

You don't have to strive to be rich, to be famous or to be powerful to feel successful. If you are waking up every day with a positive outlook on life, with a willingness to live, with a deep satisfaction for the work you do, you are successful. We have always been told that money can't buy happiness, but now that we are beginning to grow up, we feel the need to make more money in order to be happy. We go to school to pick a major that will make us a lot of money and is easy enough to get into since the job market is so difficult. Instead, we should be picking careers that will give us happiness and job satisfaction because 20 years from now, even if we do have the money, the fame, or the power, that won't mean much if we aren't satisfied with what we do every day.

I try to break free of what I've been taught was the picture perfect version of success every day, and sometimes it's hard. I know that people will judge me for my decisions no matter what I choose but I also know that I have to tune them out to follow what I feel will bring me happiness, and that will bring me success. My goal is to wake up every day happy, to wake up willing to work, to wake up next to the person I love and to help others. While Merriam-Webster may not think that is success, I've chosen to redefine the word for myself, and that is how I see success.

Words in general have different meanings to everyone, and this one in particular demands everyone to redefine it for themselves. So take the challenge to live your life based on your own definition of success, wether that includes fame, power or money, or anything else.