@the_bob_delusion wrote:
Do you consider yourself successful? If yes, what makes you a success? If not, what's missing?
Do you rate success based on physical, financial, spiritual or familial standards? If so, name something that will be sufficient to propel you to reach "success"
Do you judge your success by comparing yourself with others? Who do you consider more successful than you?
GO
I am now retired but I considerd myself successful - especially with my last employers as I have the paperwork to prove it. LOL By that I mean glowing evaluation reports, a framed certificate signed by the boss of my workplace (given to me at a special presentation), and a letter from head office rating my work as outstanding at my last yearly review.
Plus I do crafts and have had good feedback on that and there are other things I do that have been well received so I guess I'm on the right track.
QUOTE: Do you rate success based on physical, financial, spiritual or familial standards? Frankly none of those. In my middle range job I was considered trustworthy, reliable, helpful and a good innovator and problem solver. I'll bet there were other staff more successful than me against the criteria listed in the original post. Good on them...I would never begrudge their success. I earned enough to live comfortably which was fine. I guess I was happy doing well in my own special niche at work. Same with my hobbies.
I will say this. Over the years I have encountered a few people who strived for success by putting others down, and by sabotaging their co-workers to inflate their own importance. I've been on the receiving end of this once, and people like that who are so desperate for success that they are willing to lie and cheat to get ahead are pathetic. One person was so skillful at it that at one point I wondered if I was imagining it all, as my job was eroded then I was sidelined to work for someone else (which actually turned out to be a good move). Later I found out I was not the only victim. Until that person left we suffered in silence because the family was well regarded and we didn't think anyone would believe this twisted creature - all smiles and seemingly efficient - was a skilled backstabber. People like that not only don't deserve their success....they need psychiatric help. And they need to be found out and suffer the consequences of their actions.
Who to I consider more successful than me? Loads of people but so what? ๐
Bob, do you equate being successful with being famous perhaps? I never wanted to be famous.
I'll also add, my father (who was a wonderful person) was VERY successful in his work - ending up the boss of a huge Australia wide division of a public service department, and something of a trail blazer. But the better the success, the more pressure in the job. He had a heart attack at 49. Thankfully he survived but had to retire (that was the norm in those days). He lived into his 80s but the last few years he had Alzheimers. Ultimately, where did his success get him? I was determined not to strive for promotion after promotion, but find somewhere I liked with a job I liked, just do that job well...and be happy.
