During a lecture the other day my Professor began to mention that success means making money. This statement immediately grabbed my attention, and I began to wonder why in our society is the meaning of being successful always attached to being wealthy? Or as Lana Del Rey puts it, "money is the anthem of success." Yes having money is nice, yes you can be successful while making money, but that is not the epitome of success. If asked the question, who is the most successful person you know? Would you think of someone that’s genuinely content with their life or would you think of someone who is rich and looks happy from the outside? Most would think of option two, but when it comes down to it, for me, success doesn’t equal money, rather it equals happiness.

The actual definition of success is reaching or accomplishing a set task or goal, but I would argue that not everyone’s goal is to make money. Success to me, is pursuing something your passionate about. Success to me, is having a reliable and loving group of friends that you worked hard to sustain. Success to me, is being genuinely happy with the life you created for yourself. I want to be successful throughout my life and although success cannot be measured, anyone who wakes up in the morning and does something to better themselves, others, or our world is successful to me.

Success also does not have to be linked to a career, but can you be successful by having a great career? Yes. Successful people are go getters. They wake up in the morning with a determined mind, a drive to achieve, and succeed. Successful people are not lazy. Successful people are not unmotivated. The reason why the stereotypical successful person often makes money is because they have the drive to go beyond what is required and doesn’t stop until the reach the top, which arguably could never be achieved. Money will come to those who work hard and want it. I suppose this is why money is so linked to success.

We as humans, in a money driven society, often lose sight of what it actually means to be successful other than accumulating the means to buy what we want. I wanted to take a step back and decided to me what success is. I invite you all to do the same. The definition can vary immensely between individuals and that is the great thing about the world we live in. Not everyone has the same meaning of success, or the same goals, and that alone keeps our world spinning. So, to the professor who said the meaning of success is making money, I respectfully disagree.