Kyle, I believe true success is measured by how happy one is. I have a family friend who's a CEO of an Internet startup company. He makes an absurd amount of money, works hellacious hours, and hardly gets to see his wife and five-year-old son. Now, by societal standards, he would be deemed "successful," but I can tell by talking to him how unhappy he is; therefore, in my eyes, he is not successful.
Conversely, I used to be in a band with this guy who literally didn't give a crap about working, going to school, graduating, and subsequently getting a soul-crushing 9 to 5 office job. All he wanted to do was play music and hang out with friends. He paid extremely cheap rent, and did "odds and ends" type jobs (i.e. sold drugs) to get by. He also frequented every single bar in Santa Cruz, became friends with the bartenders, and now he goes out and gets free drinks routinely. Now, most of "these" types are not as happy as they pretend to be, but I honestly think this particular guy is truly happy -- and I am extremely envious of him as a result.
So, in actuality, I guess I'd have to say that the latter individual is more successful than the former. It's ironic, but I think it's true.
Well... I asked this question to Josh last night. It started out pretty good...Then Nathan came in and the next thing I knew it turned into a fight over what success was. It wasn't anybody's fault in particular, but it shows just how polemic this issue is.
I don't think success is measured by how successful you are financially. I do however have to say that I am biased because I have grown up around money my whole life and have never been without it. Yes, I have had days where I could not buy the cd that I wanted, but never have I had to skip a meal due to a light wallet. So I have never felt that I needed money because I have always been around it.
I am stating my bias not because I want to impress you with how much money I had growing up, but because it wasn't of major importance to me. If I had grown up with having to eat powdered milk for two meals a day because I was so poor, then I bet that would change things.
So while I feel that it is obvious that money isn't completely synonymous with success, for some people it may be. Maybe someone who grew up with barely having anything finds success in the fact that he can now be secure financially and not have to worry about that.
For me, it is how I use my wealth. I honestly feel guilty that I haven't had to slave away at summer jobs just to pay for schooling. So for me, success is the fact that I spend my money wisely. That my set my life up in a way that is able to bless others. That means, always having a place to sleep for people, food to eat, a car for them to use. Just being able to bless them because for some reason God saw that my family would be blessed with money.
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ReplyDeleteBy penis size. Just kidding. Sort of.
ReplyDeleteKyle, I believe true success is measured by how happy one is. I have a family friend who's a CEO of an Internet startup company. He makes an absurd amount of money, works hellacious hours, and hardly gets to see his wife and five-year-old son. Now, by societal standards, he would be deemed "successful," but I can tell by talking to him how unhappy he is; therefore, in my eyes, he is not successful.
Conversely, I used to be in a band with this guy who literally didn't give a crap about working, going to school, graduating, and subsequently getting a soul-crushing 9 to 5 office job. All he wanted to do was play music and hang out with friends. He paid extremely cheap rent, and did "odds and ends" type jobs (i.e. sold drugs) to get by. He also frequented every single bar in Santa Cruz, became friends with the bartenders, and now he goes out and gets free drinks routinely. Now, most of "these" types are not as happy as they pretend to be, but I honestly think this particular guy is truly happy -- and I am extremely envious of him as a result.
So, in actuality, I guess I'd have to say that the latter individual is more successful than the former. It's ironic, but I think it's true.
So why am I working so hard to get ahead again?
Success.
ReplyDeleteWell... I asked this question to Josh last night. It started out pretty good...Then Nathan came in and the next thing I knew it turned into a fight over what success was. It wasn't anybody's fault in particular, but it shows just how polemic this issue is.
I don't think success is measured by how successful you are financially. I do however have to say that I am biased because I have grown up around money my whole life and have never been without it. Yes, I have had days where I could not buy the cd that I wanted, but never have I had to skip a meal due to a light wallet. So I have never felt that I needed money because I have always been around it.
I am stating my bias not because I want to impress you with how much money I had growing up, but because it wasn't of major importance to me. If I had grown up with having to eat powdered milk for two meals a day because I was so poor, then I bet that would change things.
So while I feel that it is obvious that money isn't completely synonymous with success, for some people it may be. Maybe someone who grew up with barely having anything finds success in the fact that he can now be secure financially and not have to worry about that.
For me, it is how I use my wealth. I honestly feel guilty that I haven't had to slave away at summer jobs just to pay for schooling. So for me, success is the fact that I spend my money wisely. That my set my life up in a way that is able to bless others. That means, always having a place to sleep for people, food to eat, a car for them to use. Just being able to bless them because for some reason God saw that my family would be blessed with money.