success Definition Essay PDF

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Ashley Valley ENG102 16 September 2014 How do you Define Success? How do you define success? The word success has a different meaning for everyone. The definitions from Dictionary.com show that there are a few different meanings of the definition, they are “the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors: the accomplishment of one’s goal”, “The attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like”, “a performance or achievement that is marked by success, as by the attainment of honors”, and lastly a person or thing that has had success, as measured by attainment of goals, wealth, ect.”. This word almost shapes our society. You are judged and evaluated everyday for jobs, school admission, relationships, and so much more just by how “successful” you are. From researching, I found out that the couple of different meanings haven’t changed much at all over the years. It originated from the Latin word Successus meaning to come close after. The initial use of the word in 1535 was “what comes next or the result”. Back then, resulting good or bad was great, having any outcome at all was considered a success. The interpretation also varied depending on where you live in the world. In Asian cultures there are two different types of success. Mabel Kwong, an Asian native, has lived through both sides of the opinion. The first opinion and most common is the one driven by the older generation, otherwise known as the “traditional Asian success”. They feel to be considered successful you need to finish with a law, medicine, business, or science degree.” It’s about gaining formal qualifications, attaining status recognition signified by a signed piece

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of paper, and in essence is quite self-attention grabbing.” Most people in this culture never get to do what they really want because they are afraid of disappointing the family. Most really are never happy with their career. The other side in Asian cultures is usually known around the western area with more diversity. This is the modern version allows members in society to pursue artsy passions and fields that the traditional side wouldn’t accept. My interpretation of the word success is reaching pure happiness. It’s not about how much money you have, where you work, how high up in the business you are, but about being able to wake up every morning and do what you love. When you go can months and just be happy about what you have and what you are doing that’s when I feel you are successful. An example I would love to use is my mom. I consider her to be successful because she loves her job as a teacher’s assistant in Special Education. She also went back to school to get her degree in teaching which is something she has wanted to do for a long time now and it opens new doors for her career opportunities. She wakes up in the morning happy to go to work though it might get stressful she honestly enjoys it. “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” This quote is exactly my definition of success. Though through my research I have found that our society and other cultures may disagree, I think we can all agree your definition affects the way you look at life.

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Works Cited

“I Found Great Synonyms for "success" on the New Thesaurus.com!"Www.thesaurus.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2014. Kwong, Mabel. "The Two Types of Success in Asian Cultures." Mabel Kwong. N.p., 30 May 2013. Web. 17 Sept. 2014....