Oftentimes there are questions that stump us and leave us at a loss for words for an answer. It can seem to be the most random topic to be put out in existence in the moment, or it can truly be a topic of discussion that makes us physically stop and think about it because deep down we don't even know the answer to begin with (or we are too afraid to accept it).
I've been meaning to survey my closest friends, family, loved ones and social media followers on one of these thought-provoking questions for quite some time now, so I decided to try and stump them with a very generic and pretty life-reflecting topic.
Since it is so subjective, I decided to ask what does success really mean to someone- of any age, for that matter. For myself, I can say that it includes being happy, putting yourself first and working hard toward your big dreams every single day (but this is just in a nutshell, of course). Now let's see what others have to say about the matter...
"Being happy with myself and the path that I choose." - 18 years old
"To me, being successful means being happy." - 18 years old
"Stability and happiness." - 21 years old
"Being happy in whatever you're doing. :)" - 17 years old
"Success means living in a way that makes YOU happy and grateful for each day." - 21 years old
"Success means happiness for not only me but my loved ones." - 21 years old
"Success to me means being happy in life, whatever that may include. Whether that's finding someone you love, and starting a family, or making your way to a position in a business that you really enjoy working for, as long as it makes your life worth living, then you've succeeded. Obviously achieving your goals is something that comes to mind, but I feel that the most important part of success is that you're doing whatever keeps you going and makes you WANT to get up everyday. As long as you're truly happy, you've succeeded in life." - 19 years old
"Paying my bills, being happy with my career/life direction no matter what anyone thinks." - 20 years old
"Balancing my personal and work life and still making time to put myself first." - 24 years old
"Success doesn't have to mean making it big. We all have our different quantities of victories. Success for me is when I know that at the end of the day I feel fulfillment and joy from what I'm able to put out into the world." - 19 years old
"Success means to me establishing goals, both short and long term, working diligently to achieve them, and eventually meeting those goals. It is not a destination, rather a lifetime journey."
"Success to me is the moment when you feel content in what you've been working for." - 17 years old
"Success to me is achieving the goals that I have set for myself. When someone asks if you feel you are successful, it's a complicated question. Because I constantly set new goals for myself and don't become complacent. It can be a simple goal like finishing the yard work, or something much more impacting like a job or in my case, buying a house."
"To me it means doing something you love every day." - 24 years old
"Success is the act of achieving something and can vary in scale. Successes are always subjective. You can succeed at little things every day that could be big things for others, while big successes can be small as well. Overall success in life is just one big picture to many little successes along the way. For some people it's getting out of bed, for others it's making a million dollars. Most importantly, they're good to achieve and to continue to achieve throughout your lifetime. It's good to constantly give yourself aim, goals and purpose. I mean, don't get me wrong, there's bad successes, too, that we may not have intended to achieve, like succeeding in murdering someone or succeeding in being a jerk. Haha!"
"Success can be a lot of things. It can be securing a good grade, a new job, or a raise. Or it can also mean simply being happy with where you are and how far you've come!" - 22 years old
"Success is a very diverse term because you can experience success in different ways. For me, success is something you achieve when you are fully happy/satisfied with a certain situation, project, etc. It's like achieving a goal." - 16 years old
"Success can mean a lot to each and every person because our goals vary so vastly. But, if throughout your overall journey, you can confidently say that you took in each and every one of your experiences and were present in those moments (big or small), and that you were actively applying new learnings to new challenges, then in my mind, you are successful."
