anonymous artist

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To me, being successful means...
The way I measure my own success is in how much I am learning, how much I am creating, and how mindful I am of others and my environment.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I used to care so much about what others thought of me... I've always been an anxious person and a people-pleaser. I used to feel validated when someone would compliment me on my achievements, and I think that the amount of praise I received became my metric of success. Now, though, it's much different. Compliments are appreciated, but they are not things that I cling to so tightly and I certainly don't let them define me. I don't define success as one thing, but rather how in balance my life is as a whole: am I being generous enough to others? to myself? am I learning and growing and exploring? am I throwing myself wholeheartedly into my art? These are the things I care about now, and this is how I define how "successful" I am.

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Loving Mommy life

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To me, being successful means...
Having the time and money to do what you love. To me it is being a stay at home mom to two beautiful children.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
In high school I might have said that the end result was success. Maybe a big house, nice car, the right things to impress others. Now it is almost completely about spiritual and emotional contentment.

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The winding road is more beautiful than the direct route

/ Pizza My Heart/

To me, being successful means...
Being in the process of creativity and in the company of people who make you feel good inside...while able to feed yourself food that makes your body feel good and work well.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
It used to be more about money and accomplishments

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From Student to Teacher

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To me, being successful means...
Feeling proud of the work I have done and always making the morally correct choice--being the better person even when it's easy not to.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I used to define success as accomplishments--tangible things I could point to. It turned out once I accomplished something I was most proud of all the hard work that had gotten me there, not of the accomplishment itself.

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Mediocre high school student finding success in college

/ The Dish/

To me, being successful means...
Being successful is something that is constantly changing to me. In high school, that math test was the biggest deal in my life. Then which college I went to seemed important. In college, a long term relationship that turned into a breakup seemed like the end of the world. Now, graduating from college, the job that I have seems to taken priority. That being said, being content in the present is something that to me signifies success. Nothing else really matters.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I think my concept of self confidence has improved after leaving Palo Alto. Having that confidence has allowed me to find success in more ways.

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StillPA

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To me, being successful means...
being a happy and well adjusted adult!

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I used to think of success more along the generic terms of job status. When I was younger I never thought to include personal relationships and feelings!

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Following Your Bliss

/ Stanford Theater/

To me, being successful means...
Being happy with what I do on a day-to-day basis.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
When I was in high school, I thought that success meant working in a white collar professional capacity, having power and money, and exotic adventures and participating in art on the side. 

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You're never expecting it when the goal posts shift

/ The Winter Lodge/

To me, being successful means...
I've come to believe that success is really relative. Some might define success by major financial success, power or name recognition. I think I'm successful. I've got three kids who are doing great, I can feed them and my wife and have money for luxuries like Ice Hockey, concerts, meals out and seeing new movies if we like. I'm not wealthy by any means, but I'm certainly successful compared to a lot of situations.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I used to feel that being recognized was the definition of success. After all, only those whose name is thrown around are what seemed successful. They were known, they had influence, recognition and power. It always seemed like school and TV said it was so easy, it wasn't. I had to move the goalposts. Success became not being a failure rather than being any verb which implied privilege. When that level of success(close to the dictionary definition) is your bar, all of a sudden its black and white: succeed or fail. So not failing became the yardstick of success.

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a bumpy ride to a life in the arts

/ The creamery of course!/

To me, being successful means...
Living happily- having time to spend with my wife and family without too much stress.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I have realized that the most important things to me are people, relationships and ideas, not grades, jobs or money.

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Academic refugee

/ Baylands/

To me, being successful means...
Being happy with my personal life, having work that I'm genuinely interested in and that is challenging but not too stressful, and being financially comfortable.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I used to mix up success on a specific small goal and success overall--I thought that if I didn't achieve a specific career step I wasn't successful. Now I realize that being successful at each step isn't the same as being successful overall. I'm happier where I ended up in my career than I probably would have been where I thought I wanted to go, just like I'm happier with my husband than I would have been with exes I was devastated to break up with at the time.

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Life does not always follow a certain order of events

/ Mitchell Park/

To me, being successful means...
Being successful means contributing to society, knowing and honoring myself, figuring out how to love/care others (i.e. my family) best, and using my intellect. 

My definition of success has changed over time. 
It has more to do with the satisfaction I draw and my own priorities being sorted out.

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Success with a hiccup - struggling with mental illness

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To me, being successful means...
Being happy, waking up each morning knowing you are loved and that everything will be OK, no matter what happens.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I realized that what I do for work has much less importance in life than who I am as a person. 

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The Employed Philosophy Major

/ The Baylands/

To me, being successful means...
having the time and energy to do better today than I did yesterday. 

My definition of success has changed over time. 
Earlier in my life, my definition of success was tied to my academic and job-related successes. Now I realize that focusing on those external factors was a way to avoid the introspection necessary to define success for myself.

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It gets better!

/ The Ohlone (elementary school) farm/

To me, being successful means...
- being completely satisfied with yourself
- gaining the respect and admiration of others

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I use to think success was comparison--how much MORE money would I have compared to my peers, what position would I be in my position at a corporate job, how quickly can I climb this ladder and become someone else's boss. Now, my definition of success is more focused on myself than others. The respect of other people is still important to me, but its weight is fading.

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Happy balance over everything else

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To me, being successful means...
Maintaining my happiness.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
There is no dollar amount or title that can fulfill my success, which I initially believed. It's a matter of a work life balance that allows me to do the things in life that make me happy.

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The Gifts of Unexpected Pain & Struggle

/ Page Mill Road/

To me, being successful means...
Learning to find joy, love, gratitude, and opportunity no matter what is (or is not) happening in our lives while remaining fully present and compassionate with the reality of our own and others' suffering and the light such darkness can reveal for us to share with others.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I wanted to do something big with my life - and to me that meant being well-known and doing something high profile (like being an astronaut or a famous author). While I still struggle with that old attachment to having my ego-identity validated by as many people as possible, I've come to find the greatest sense of purpose in my life comes from the individual relationships I form and the opportunity I'm given to make a lasting and meaningful difference in the lives of others.

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You will get there, but you have to decide what parts of you to take with you

/ Matadero creek/

To me, being successful means...
Being to take care of my needs and help out with the needs of those I love. To be able to be meaningful work that uses my unique brain and skills. To be loved and valued by family, friends and clients.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I was more focussed on my achievements, and my immediate family, and less on my extended web of relationships

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A Great Place To Grow Up!

/ The Old Mill [now closed]/

To me, being successful means...
To be passionate about what your spending most of your days doing "work". A career that allows you to grow and improve and that your well compensated for.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
When I was younger success was more about "stuff or things" - as I've matured it's more and more about how I can help others and improve my skills in my career.

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