If you feel you have to achieve everything you want in life before you consider yourself successful - then I dont think you will ever be successful. I think its healthy to add new things you want to achieve to your list as you get older, and still feel succesful about the achievements you have already made.
It would be a bit silly to have a list of 5 things you want t achieve, achieve them all by 40.... and then sit back for the next 30 years.... I dont think you'd be very content/consider yourself succesful looking back on things you did 25 years ago. This backs up my theory that to be successful you need to have a growing/changing list of achievements and celebrate each one.
Am I making any sense?! This is all very deep... did they put something extra in that gaviscon?
Personally I view successful as someone who is happy with were they are in life (and it doesnt matter if its in a castle or a council house), someone who loves and is loved, has achieved their potential academically (again I dont mean be a Dr earning £100k, I mean went to uni if they wanted/studied marine biology with the OU as a hobby at 50 because they were interested in it etc).
I do tie success in with money alot too. However I think this is what makes so many of us unhappy. We forget to look at and appreciate other aspects of our lives that bring us more joy than money eg our children/relationships with family, laughter, food lol, our health. Nearly all of those we would chose over money... and yet we pin our success on being comfortably off. It says more about a person that they can bring up a well adjusted, happy child, have a stable loving relationship with partner/family, be kind to others.... than it does that someone was able to get a business degree and screw others over for a profit.
^^^^ Btw I have no idea were that rant just came from. I moan all the time about wanting a well paid job and all my friends being 'better' than me because they have 2 year old cars and a mortgage. Maybe I should search my soul more often!
