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Tuesday, April 30, 2024

"Success" by Natalie G

 

Over time I have particularly recognized that my academic accomplishments do not quite bring me a sense of satisfaction when I thought they would since it is what I devote most of my time to. This is not to be taken in a depressing way, just a realistic realization of what brings me closer to defining my idea of “success”. I think this is because as soon as I achieve a certain goal of mine, I am always looking forward to the next without stopping to appreciate my hard work.

 

Now, evidently, success is identified for each individual in a unique way. Some may picture success through wealth, others in an educational form (like obtaining a doctorate), others through fame, and even others by forming a family; these are just some of plenty of other different examples. Essentially, the amazing part is that individuals can support whichever ideology they connect with the most, live with it, and respect others’ perspectives.

 

Oxford Languages defines success as, “The accomplishment of an aim or purpose.” Their definition of success is very generalized opposed to Maya Angelou’s definition upon which I agree with, “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” I interpreted her definition to convey the idea that success falls within one’s character development in learning more about ourselves and shaping the life we idolize based on our understanding of our wants and needs.

 

A successful person is confident, joyful, and can uplift others; they do not feel like they need someone, they are satisfied with having themselves (this does not mean that they have to be alone, just that their emotional state does not depend on others). Therefore, people can begin to be successful by taking the time to spend quality time with themselves and contemplate different areas of their lives they want to improve or simply question how they feel about it. These can be emotional as to understanding what makes you mad and why that makes you mad. Why don’t you have patience? What has caused you to not have patience? (see, just prompting questions).

 

Self-awareness is key! I find frustration with not knowing what to do. I detest the feeling of being lost and disconnected from myself; it makes me feel as if I have abandoned my shell. Therefore, some practical activities that make me happy are watching sad movies (ironic), spending time with my cousins, creating vision boards, listening to podcasts, cleaning, and learning more about a new topic. These bring me a fondness for inspiration and can make me feel productive after a long day.

 

Nonetheless, if there is anything that this blog should highlight, let it be this: Never stop questioning yourself, it is the way to uncover many more characteristics within you. Take the time and patience to get to know more about yourself by practicing new activities that will bring out new feelings out of you that can hopefully cause you to get closer to being a successful person.

 

Works Cited

Adu-Wusu, Euegene. “The Meaning of Success and How to Define Success in Life.” LinkedIn, 3 February 2016, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/meaning-success-how-define-life-eugene-adu-wusu/. Accessed 18 April 2024.

Catron, Jenni. “How Self-Awareness Will Make You Successful.” The Grit and Grace Project, https://thegritandgraceproject.org/purpose/how-self-awareness-will-make-you-successful. Accessed 18 April 2024.

Robak, Lucas J. “25 Definitions of Success from Very Accomplished People | by Lucas J. Robak | Thrive Global.” Medium, 3 December 2017, https://medium.com/thrive-global/25-definitions-of-success-from-very-accomplished-people-d3c43955e40e. Accessed 18 April 2024.

 

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