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What does it mean to be successful?

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LoBagola

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The dictionary definition of "success" is given as: the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted; and "successful" is defined as: Having achieved wealth or eminence
 
If I think of myself, my life, and my values, I can say there are many values I have failed to achieve and many I have succeeded in achieving. I can choose to once again pursue those values that I have not achieved, and potentially I will succeed. 
 
What I’m curious about however, is at what point I can say “I’m a success” or “I’m a failure”. It seems like something that is intrinsically phrased (I posted about this here http://forum.objectivismonline.com/index.php?showtopic=27276).
 
Can one actually be a “failure” or a “success” if no other details are provided? What would that mean?
 
The dictionary definition of success seems somewhat useless. Achieving wealth — how much wealth? Eminence — why should that be “success”?
 
So far what I’m thinking is I can only ever say I failed at achieving this value, or succeeded at achieving that one — but I can’t ever say “I’m a failure” or “I’m a success”, because that’s intrinsicism. Also, I think this would tie into the method by which one would evaluate a person as “good” or “evil”. 
 
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You are succeeding at asking a lot of good questions.

 

You ask: "Can one actually be a “failure” or a “success” if no other details are provided? What would that mean?"

 

It's like trying to measure up to an unspecified ambiguous notion of "perfection". These are normative terms. Defining success as the achievement of something (what? - You pick) desired, planned or attempted. Defining successful as having achieved (what again? You picked - was it wealth or eminence?) the desired, planned or attempted.

 

Turn "I am a success" into "I have been successful at x, y, and/or z". This ties into self-esteem. Self-esteem, looking into the future, is the recognition that your mind is competent to think and that you are worthy of happiness. Self-esteem comes from action, successful action, primarily, and even failed actions, depending on how you ultimately deal with them. Action requires thought. Right thought, right action, right result. When thought, action, result do not synchronize or coalesce into expectations, do you throw your hands up and declare you are a failure and never intend to become otherwise - or analyze what when went astray - the thought, the action, or the result, seeking which one or more needs addressing. By developing the ongoing habit of such an approach the doubt in the tool of the mind, instilled by years of teaching, lecturing and preaching that it is incompetent, hopeless, flawed, etc., fades away as you continue to develop more efficacy and competence with its proper use.

Edited by dream_weaver
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  • 3 weeks later...

To succeed in a particular instance is to achieve your goal, whatever that may be. To be a "success" means that you have both achieved your goals and set the right ones.

 

By "right ones" I mean the ones that will lead you to obtaining what you truly value for your own happiness.

 

Now, the way I see it, the joy does not come after becoming a success, rather, it comes from moving towards your goals step by step. ie. succeeding.

 

So I hold that man should never become "a success" (though he should certainly strive to succeed) until the very end of his life. For to be a success implies that you have achieved all your goals and value nothing you do not already have - in my eyes, this is by definition a purposeless existence.

 

And to clarify, one should still enjoy the values they have obtained (ie. wealth and knowledge), else they would be worthless to begin with; but the primary focus must always be forward, no matter how high you have gone.

Edited by Motionist
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I would suggest that "wealth" in the common vernacular is interpreted somewhat superficially and the term "eminence" may have shades of psychological second handedness, like fame or "esteem in others eyes".

 

A small shift can make "being successful" more Objective:

 

Replace "wealth" with "abundance of value" and eminence with "self-esteem" (also replace the "or" with "and"), then use the correct standards of life and reality to inform "value" and "self-esteem" and you have a good working definition of "being successful", in my humble opinion.

Edited by StrictlyLogical
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