Success

Sometimes, when I am bored, I like to think about things. One of the things I often think about is what it means to be successful. Everyone has different goals and aspirations, and so it is difficult to compare one person’s success to another person’s. To me, being successful means choosing a goal, working your hardest to accomplish it, and then attaining that goal, all the while staying true to yourself.

Recently I made a decision to choose school/work over my personal life, making someone upset because the decision didn’t further the goal that they had planned for me. But although I was upset the person felt that way, I was pretty satisfied with my decision. I learned so much and felt like it was a small step towards one day accomplishing the overall goal I have chosen for my career. I also had so much fun.

Sometimes I fall into the pattern of trying to be someone I’m not. I greatly admire people who have become successful without having to change who they are. I can give you an example of this, but you either may have never heard of him, or what I write will surprise you. Even so, I think that he is a great example of what I am talking about.

When I was a kid, I was a huge fan of a musician, Weird Al Yankovic. Although he doesn’t have the typical ‘Hollywood’ image or play a popular instrument (he plays the accordion), Weird Al Yankovic creates the type of music that he loves, and gets others to love it too. He may not have the biggest fan base ever, but he definitely has an extremely loyal following, and he continues to enjoy a long, successful career. The artists he parodies often praise his work, and he is good at what he does. I could get into more detail, but there are a lot of websites about him that you can check out, if you are interested. From what I can tell, he has not really changed his personality in order to get people to like him. He has managed to make people like him for who he is.

So as I make plans for after I graduate from college, I look forward to one day attaining my goals. I also hope to never forget who I am or forget the experiences that have helped to make me who I am. Perhaps I will never be rich or famous or have the kind of life that people think I should have, but I think that if I stay on the path I’ve chosen for myself, I will be happy. And that is success to me.