In life everybody strives to be successful. But what does success really mean? The Oxford dictionary defined success as, “the fact that you have achieved something that you want and have been trying to do or get; or the fact of becoming rich, famous or getting a high social position”. Though many may agree with this definition of success, however it is not entirely true.
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In life, many people struggle to find their goals, to find their own definition of success. With success being one of our themes, we hoped to find our own definition of success during this trip. Throughout our trip, we explored the meaning of being successful, we incessantly asked ourselves what is success. We seek other people’s view on success. The people we met gave us a lot of useful advices and many words of wisdom. By the end of this backpacking trip, we had a better grasp on the concept of life. We learned how to form our goals using the right guidelines.
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“Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm” (Winston Churchill). Before we can move on to success, we must first understand something closely related to it--- Failure. Comparing failures to successes, failures tend to appear more often in our lives. Many thought that failure is the direct opposite of success and that they do not co-exist. They were wrong. Failure is actually a process rather than an end. In order to reach success, failure is inevitable. The harder the failure, the sweeter the success. Failure is the direct opposite of success only when we give up after every failure. In my opinion, giving up easily is the most unforgivable attitude. The act of giving up is cowardly. By giving up you can avoid hardship and pain, but you can never succeed. Failure brings about self improvements. There is a Chinese proverb that says “failure is the mother of success”, that is why we have to understand failures, accept failures and learn from failures.
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Now that we understand failure, what does it take to be a successful person? In order to be a successful person, there are two criteria that must be fulfilled. One, it is to achieve personal goals. Two, it is to focus on servicing to other people and contributing to the society. The former being focused on one’s self-satisfaction and happiness, while the latter attracts acknowledgement from our society.
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“I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate “ (George Burns). In life, happiness is the most important. We cannot be called a success if we are not happy. If you enjoying doing the things you love, do not stop. Someday, this passion will bear fruit and brings glory to you.
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Goals for everyone is different. Some may be huge goals and some may be small goals. Basically, success means the achievement of one’s own goals. Be it big or small, as long as that person feels happy about his achievement. A normal student may feel that he has already succeed if he manage to obtain a bachelor’s degree. Whereas a top student will only be satisfied if he gets a doctorate.
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However, I must point out that achieving your goals using illegal ways are not counted as true success. A successful person must achieve his goals through the proper way. All the hardship and failure that one goes through makes one more determined. He will then move on from small goals to bigger goals. Having right and positive moral values plays an important role in being successful. He who wants to success must rid of evil and greed inside his heart. “Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go” (William Feather). Qualities like diligence, patience, self-confidence and determination is also a must.
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If we want to be acknowledged by others, we must earn other people’s respect and affirmation. This can only be achieved when we contribute to the society. The contribution does not necessarily need to be monetary. It can be in the form of service and social works. For example, those who are healthy can always donate blood as a way of contributing to society. As the saying goes, happiness is gained most whenever we extend a helping hand.
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For the second part, we have to contribute to the society. The reason why we must contribute to the society can be explained. When we were born, we started out as an innocent baby. Then, we had nothing and we knew nothing. We then began to take whatever the surrounding gives us. From our basic needs to our demanding wants, we continuously took everything from our society and mother nature. It is only right that one day we give back all we had taken, we do something for our society. As humans, we were born with unlimited potentials, we must use that potential for the good of all. Use that potential change our society for the better.
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When we have no more regrets in life, are satisfied with our achievement, and experience real happiness, we are halfway through to being a success. The other half comes from the view of people around us, if you have contributed significantly to the community, people will adore you, people will respect you. By combining these two elements, it is then you are a true success, in your own eyes and in the eyes of others.
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