hmm wow thats true…
finding something you love and are content with…
it seems now in highschool we are ‘programed’ to
want to go to college and make lots of money
no one ever says “do what you want… and you’ll succeed”
unless ofcourse you want to be a doctor or something…
Although i’ve found myself thinking about it….
what will make me happy.. and successful at the same time?
happiness = success?
I find more of my success, now… in my goals…
in my agenda… keeping on my agenda and rewarding myself
with the success… if that makes sense?
But feeling good in your own body i think is complete success…
not too many people feel good in their own body…
i know who i am… but sometimes i don’t think im happy or content in my own body :-/
eghh
but what 15 yr old girl feels comfortable in her own skin?
well literally unless that was an analogy?
anyways good blog…
i love when you focus in on our responses
<3 taylor nikole

Interesting topic… I too defined “success” differently through the different stages of my life… in high school, it was about being at the top of my class. I worked hard to achieve that goal, and when I got into college, it was about nailing that first job interview after graduating and landing a prestigious job at a Big 5 Accounting firm. Once I landed that, I saw others who let their career drive how they defined themselves, but that didn’t motivate me…I wanted the work/life balance of being able to have a career and having a family. I didn’t need to keep up with my peers and climb that corporate ladder and I was lucky to have found someone who wanted to share his life with me (yay!). Now as I grow into this role of “Parent”, my definition of “Success” has shifted away from being all about me and has now morphed into how to live my life the way I want my girls to live theirs.. with love and respect for the world and people around them and the self-confidence to be themselves and to grow up doing something that they love doing and never look at it as just a job or just work. If I can accomplish that, then that is my definition of “success”… Thanks Arash and Allison for a great topic !

first of all I wanna say sorry I’ve been gone for that long , just reaaaallly busy latraly, but here I’m hehehe
oh God the Cokkie Lady was amazingly funny hahahah , love those ramdoms videos you post …
Success can be anywhere if you search for at the bright side of the things in your life , for exemple.in your might not be any exiting right now or nothing going on , but instead of looking what could have worked why don´t we just be thankful for what we finally achieved and and have …. like the most simple things around you , a mother who doesn’t sleep until u get at home safe… a father who looks after you …
all of them and your also your friends wishing you the best to achieve a successful goal in your life , just by having those thing I believe I’m succeed… What do you guys think about that ? arent I right ?
Kisses and hugs

To wake up every day willing to accept what it will be.
To be better than you were yesterday.
To help when you can.
To understand your imperfections.
To refuse to allow them to be your limitations.
To be seek change.
To do what is right even when there’s nothing in it for you.
To be patient.
To face your fears.
To make a difference in someone’s day, week, month, year or life–no matter how great or small.
To have faith and hope towards the future.

That is success.

If I might say before I begin.

Arash, you are a very insightful person! I especially liked the poem you posted for “Anything is Possible.” I believe that like your interpretation of life, success is also multi-coloured.

“Light is when one million, mind if one’s life is in danger.”

“Dark is when one’s mind, takes a million lives!”

There couldn’t be a truer statement in my opinion. Yet as sad as it is, there are people who judge their own success on the amount of lives they take. Adolf Hitler, Osama Bin-Laden and Saddam Hussein to name & shame a few!

Ultimately I believe that success is in the eye of the individual, one man might judge his success on the good he can do and another might judge it on the bad. Another might judge it on the value of his possessions and one might judge it on the number of friends he has.

I guess unless you’re a tyrant, and or hell bent on total Human annihilation, there really isn’t a wrong definition to success. We are all individual after all, it’s the one thing that we do have in common!

I suppose it really depends on what you want out of life!

Thanks for the blog.

Friday

“The value of things is not the time when they last,
but the intensity with which they occur.
So there are unforgettable moments,
unexplained things and people unmatched. ”

For you Allison!!!

Edy – Brazil

I think there are many “levels” to success. And I think it requires attention so that one is balancing the levels. Monetary is important…up until one is self sufficient. It feels good also to get accolades for what one is doing. But also personal success, such as in one’s family, is important. I have a close family member who has had MUCH public attention for the work she has done in the community, but she has one adult son now on mental medication, and another daughter who battles a meth problem. I believe the mom focused so much on her public works that her family suffered. This is not success. So there are so many different angles…and everyone who looks at my life would judge my level of success differently. I try to judge it by how balanced it is…attemptly to juggle things successfully…until my kids are up and gone, and then I can have more of the self centered kind of successes, and personal fullfillment. I feel successful right now as I have made a really good cup of froo froo coffee…and it is so tasty!

I journal constantly and was just writing yesterday about the topic of success!

“My life steadily slips away as I only grow older with each passing day. My uncle Charles once said that after a certain point in a person’s life, potential becomes failure. My first reaction to this was, “What a sad way to view life!” If one does not develop their potential within a given time, they loose their chance at success? What about those parents who, after raising their children, return to college and earn the degree that will land the dream career they’ve worked so hard for. Perhaps it just takes some longer than others to achieve their goals.

On the other hand, I somewhat understand the point Charles was trying to make. Some people wait around their whole lives expecting something that they don’t realize is gone until it’s too late. This is where I never want to find myself. To soak up life in every moment and to find joy in all the unexpected places. That is my idea of success.”

Good morning Miss Mack,

The topic about success is very interesting and most of all judicious because it can raise a very philosophical answer. What is life ? What is happiness ? Are we able to be successful if we don’t have faith in ourself ? Certainly not. We have to be a light to ourself. We should not try to be the light of another personn, even if we like this personn very much. It would be just an exercise in futility. How a big tree could stand up whitout a good root ? Actually, we have to be a light to ourself simply as a way of being like a mountain strongly based on Earth. And it is all about liberty into our soul. If we have faith in us, we can feel the liberty of the right choice and be successful with our goals. if we can’t have faith in us, we are just like a mountain made of sand that wind destroy. Concerning Tabby’s riddle, i think it is certainly the same scheme. We have to use powerful energies inside of us and most of all we have to update everytime. That’s one of the liberty keys and that’s what it can make the difference ! When you update your soul constantly, you don’t have to feel as the best, you are the best.

Take care of you Miss Mack,
Have a lot of fun,

PS : Have a nice day Dear Tabby.

Your friend always,
Joey L.

I asked Webster to define success and this was the answer: achievement of something intended or desired; attaining wealth, fame, or prosperity.

I gotta say I disagree with the last part of this definition. This may be because I don’t define success in terms of materialistic value. I honestly don’t care what a person has achieved if I can’t be in the same room with them. They may have a different label depending on their tax bracket, but a jerk is a jerk!

So, I guess defining success would depend on your core values. In other words, what do you value most? A home and family that are happy and healthy? Or, climbing the corporate ladder? Or, winning an oscar? All of the above?

Secondly, at what cost are you willing you to sacrifice in order to achieve that goal? Because, lets face it, everything has a cost. People either sacrifice their family for their career or vice versa. If you can balance your career and have a happy family life, that’s success.

On a side note, sometimes we like to get all existential to the point we think ourselves out of common sense. (i.e. anyone remember the famous question in regards to defining the word “is”?) However, I think it’s important that we understand what we value and why. What guides us to make decisions and how do we live with the consequences of these decisions? And, why do we define ourselves by what we do? Just thoughts to ponder. ;o)

success is when you wake up in the morning and smile because you know you are doing things you love..
success is when you realize that the world revolves around the ones you love..
success is when you do everything with love..

Success doesnt have to be of any moneytary value .. it just has to be that little banner in the sky that says.. hey! you did it! .. or a pat on the back from a friend.. or a hug that was long needed ..

be successful. =) start with a smile

i used to think that sucess was impressing my parents and surpassing my siblings in everything that i did. after a while i got sick of pretending that getting the top grades and beating my sister was important. i decided that sucess was me living my life the way i want, chasing down my dreams and trying to make them a reality…not spending my time trying to be accepted my my peers by doing something i never really had my heart set upon….it took a near death experience for me to have the courage to change my studies and future career from law to Crime Scene science. so at this moment i am not successful….but i’m on my way.

Hey Allison I think success is what you’ve accomplished within your private goals. My goal is to become an actress and people keep putting me down saying I won’t make it but I’m striving to find my place, find what I am meant to do in this world. I would like to thank Arash for his inquired thoughts on our opinions.

Bye enjoy summer! Britt

I’ll go with the esteemed Robert Zimmerman on this one.

Paraphrased:

“You’re a success if you get up in the morning and go to bed at night, and in between you do what you want to do.”

There are so many good answers to this question.To me it means fulfillment of dreams,doing something you love and doing it well,to be able to do things I want to accomplish,achieving what I really want to do. I don’t believe it means making enough money to buy the very best things in life. Sucess means to be able to believe in yourself.

Who knew that Allison Mack was so insightful in addition to being an excellent actress.

Next thing you know Cloe will be running an advice column.

Seriously, though. Well done.

Hi Allison

I think we all have our own notion of “Success” and for the most part it depends on our own experiences and judgments. I agree with you totally with success being the “living the life I imagine” whether it being spiritual, secular, or as many categories as ones views their success to be. Our imagination allows us to adapt to the changes when new experiences come into play and discover a new path to get to that ultimate goal of success. I also agree with the intervention of something happening first for this success to take place. Whether it being divine intervention or some mechanism from the universe, in my case love, Jesus, Mary, something to help us get there for things to work out and for success to be recognized. Anyway, this may take time, or sometimes it may lead to something better and even greater success that one couldn’t even imagine.

Allison, In all things I hope the goal you seek turns out well and I hope it turns out better than your heart can ever comprehended.

-Jesse

I think success is measured within. For some, it is a financial and a comfort of living. For me, I measure success in the kind of impact I have on others. I currently have a comfortable enough job where I make enough money to provide for my family, etc., but . . . I don’t feel successful. I don’t feel proud about my job and I enjoy being away from it. I went back to school recently to pursue a degree in early childhood education. I graduated in May, in my mid 30s, and I am excited about the day when I’ll get to work with kids full time. I’ll make a lot less, and my job certainly won’t have prestige, but inside myself, I will be successful because I will be finally doing something I love, where I’ll be at peace with myself, and where I’ll feel like I’m making a difference in other people’s lives.

P.s totally agree with Taty as well.

Hey Allison, Arash’s question was a good one. Your response was very simliar to how I use to look at success. When your younger and you’re talking with friends saying how when you grow up you’ll be rich and successful as well as famous. As I grew up and a lot of hang ups with fianances I have come awakened that REAL success is overcoming your self doubt in oneself and realizing that your accomplishments and believing in yourself and being happy with those accomplishments is success. Not what others see as success, or think you should have to live up to for them to see you as successful, but what you yourself know and believe to be successful. -Lori B.

Hi Allison.
The success is to succeed what is undertaking in a job fair and respectful of human values.
The success is to have full control of his life without needing to stand as alcohol, drugs and specialists from the magical thinking.
The success is to achieve its objectives without having to be manipulated or to manipulate others.

I agreed with you when you said “I am somewhere in between success being recognition for what you have chosen to love and do with you life and me just feeling good in my own body.”
As an actress, I think you have a great career in front of you full of succès.You are like Superman, with your power as an actress you can accomplish great things, but you have to be prudent and you wary of people who sell recepice for the success.
I did not understand the last paragraph because you never talk about this goal.
In the Voices blog, you were ready to sacrifice a lot for this goal.
Yet, you had to sign for the season 8.
It would be nice if you shared with us this goal.

Thanks to share with us your thoughts.

Bye

Claude.

After reading this new blog, I think I’d have to say all 3 of your answers are right to a certain point. At a certain intersection in your life you come to realize that your self analysis each step of the way to discovering yourself is the completion of your life’s puzzle. In short, all of those pieces finally come together to form the whole picture. Your got a very bright head on your shoulders. I enjoy your blogs everytime. Love ya!

Neil

“You’ve got to get up every morning with determination, if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction!”

I’ve been thinking a lot about this question, which is unusual because I usually say what I have to say and leave it at that! I found the above quote on the net whilst researching for my own site, I know it doesn’t really mention success but it made me think.

I’ve had some really bad things happen to me through my life and as a result I long ago stopped taking the days for granted. I think this quote best describes my interpretation of success because I wake every morning with determination, I set my goals for that day and only when I’m satisfied do I go to sleep! I would never have made plans or set goals any further than a day or two ahead for fear of not achieving them. Until now that is!

Despite the bad things I’ve experienced I can honestly say that the good times out way them ten-to-one. I try to be kind and courteous to everyone I meet, but I’m picky when choosing my friends. I prefer to find friends that have their own opinion and don’t agree with everything I say! Not that I’ve met many people like that!

It’s because of this trait in me that I constantly return to this site every day. In fact I only have three or four web addresses saved in my favourites! If I’m honest, I don’t really know any of you, yet every day I log in, eager to see what the response might be to the given subject. I also like the way that Arash described the site as “The Dead Poets Society.” I don’t really care if this sounds corny but I actually feel part of something special! I mean, I don’t know any other famous people that would give this level of attention to their fans. Talking of which! I really enjoy reading the responses as well as the blog itself. There are many intelligent people that comment on this site; Arash for one, Taylor Nikole. Who I believe is only fifteen, but never the less a very intelligent young woman, and David Hayes. I apologise if I haven’t mentioned your name but I mean for this message to refer to you all!

I know I’ve ranted on for a bit, but through a number of factors, this site being one of them, I’ve changed the way I live my life, I still live my life to the full but I don’t live it in fear of something that might never happen!

Thanks for putting up with my tirade!

Friday

P.S. Talking of David Hayes! If you haven’t already done so, I recommend checking out his site. (www.daybow.com) it’s straight up Rum without the Coke but there are some very good drawings and stories on there; and if you’ve got the time, give him some feed back also! Thanks again. P

wot u achieve in your everyday life?