Poor Palo Alto kid harnesses lessons learned into career of social justice

To me, being successful means...
Being financially stable doing something that makes you fairly happy doing.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I used to think it was one or the other, financially stable versus being happy with what you are doing, defined success. Since I have come to the conclusion that it's a fair balance of the two.

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Palo Alto Is Just Where You're From. Not Who You Are.

To me, being successful means...
Happy, healthy and engaged in satisfying work and personal relationships.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
Realizing that all those "resume-builders" matter very little in the long run. I spent a long time trying to be the kind of person my parents wanted me to be and used it as an excuse not to do the hard work of figuring out what do do with my life.

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One of the last

To me, being successful means...
The hardest to achieve: to be truly happy and satisfied with life. It's so easy to forget what happiness is as you get older, or you remember a happier part of your life but you can't find a way to get back there. It's all about accepting and loving yourself. Once that happens you make others feel the same way about you, and themselves, and everyone's suddenly happy, and the world seems like a better place.
Success to me also means being able to trust and believe in yourself. I remember the first time I took on a project and I didn't feel anxious about how I was going to get it done. I realized that I was good enough at what I do that, even if the answer didn't come to me quickly, I could fall back on my experience to know it would eventually come if I put more effort in to it. Even when I got laid off from jobs in the past I never doubted myself that I had the skills and talent to always find work.
Lastly, success would be raising my 4 children in to adults that are successful in life themselves.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
As a teen, my idea of success was to be known as "great" at whatever I chose to do in life. I would be famous and all the kids in school would see me as some kind of hero. Now, I realize who the heroes really are.

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Do all you can to enjoy your life and find happiness. Don't get old wishing you had enjoyed life when young.

To me, being successful means...
Success begins when you reach contentment with what you have and who'd you become. Love your life and find meaning in the true journey of life which cannot be controlled.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
You cannot find success by constantly comparing your life with the life of others.

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Money isn't everything

To me, being successful means...
Being happy.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I used to think success was based off money and position within society/job. I look at it now as a feeling. You are successful if you are content with the stage in life you are at without comparison to others

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A circuitous road to home just up the Peninsula.

To me, being successful means...
Finding balance, continuing to work toward your priorities -- keep them in sight; your personal well-being should be one of your priorities; learning to know and respect yourself.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
Less focused on titles and resume bullets, more focused on well-being and impact on those around me. 

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Living My Dream, Not Yours!

To me, being successful means...
achieving YOUR dream and nobody else's!

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I've matured. When your young, there's peer pressure to be as good or better than the next student. At [high school name omitted], I wanted to take advanced classes because it was the thing to do, not because I really wanted to do it on my own. Now I do things because I want to...not because it's the cool thing to do!

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Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness.

To me, being successful means...
Being comfortable in your skin and proud of who you are. It means living a big life, the kind of life where your choices come from love and not fear.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I think there was somehow instilled in me a checklist of sorts... it never came from my family, I knew they loved me unconditionally, but it came from the people around me & I measured myself against that invisible made up checklist for so long until I realized that it was that checklist that was blocking any of my chances at true success. 

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UnpredictableLife

To me, being successful means...
staying true to who you are and having good, solid values. Having a strong moral character throughout life and in all circumstances. This is true strength and true success in my book.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
In high school, success was about your GPA, how good you were in sports, how many friends you had, if you were on Homecoming Court or selected for a "pop poll" in the yearbook. It's truly embarrassing to look back and remember how I hoped I could acquire these meaningless identities.

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The reason truth is funny is because it's true, not because it's funny.

To me, being successful means...
Being true to myself -- all the time. Most of the time, this is easy, but in the times when it matters most, it tends to be hard.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I used to immediately think of material wealth and popularity when I thought about success. Now, I think about the quality, not quantity, of relationships I have and about the things I feel proud of doing in my life.

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I loved literature more than science

To me, being successful means...
doing "good" in the world and helping make it a better place, even if it is just one person at a time.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
When I was younger, I presumed success was about prestige and measures of intelligence (ie grades). Then I got into the working world and realized that no one cares what grades you got - they really care about how you interact with other people, not how "smart" you are.

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Still being happy and successful ... from the middle of the pack

To me, being successful means...
There are quite a few areas in which "success" can be applied. There is professional and personal arenas. But most of them involve building heathy relationships in which you can invest in cheerfully and draw upon when needed.
It would be disingenuous to say that money isn't a factor, but the reality I've come to realize is that you have usually make a trade with regards to where my time is applied. I have spent a lot of time focused on making money, so I can have some comfort, some self control and indulge in a little excess.
For me, Success is the ability to balance between those aspects and where it is spent (on myself or on others).

My definition of success has changed over time. 
Yeah, it was originally about power and money. Recognition by others was what I was trapped by. I've started 2 companies, joined 4+ startups and had been part of 3 acquisitions. It felt like it was wasted, not that these are bad things, but the attitude and expectations I had, did not allow me to enjoy them for what they were. Now it about the ride, the journey and those who will come along side you. It about building up grit, the perseverance to go through "hard stuff" and not run from it or be frozen by it, but to move through it. If you learn the most from your mistakes, then don't be afraid to make them and to own them. That is not the same being stupid or lazy about things and trying to learn from them ... put the best effort in that you can, do the prep work, run through the obstacles ... let the chips fall where they may. Be proud of the effort. 

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All of life is an experiment...

To me, being successful means...
Wanting to get up and out of bed everyday. At the end of the day feeling like I did even a little thing that will last into the future.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I used to think that I would want to retire super early or be a stay at home mom. Then I took a couple years off and found that I really need to work. I am happier with feeling like I do something productive everyday and the structure of a job helps me do that.

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Competitive and sports loving, yet often humbled

To me, being successful means...
Doing something that I'm good at and that I enjoy. For me, it happens to be business.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I used to think getting into the best college was the most important. I've literally kept a mental notebook of many of my peers and I find little correlation between what college one attended and job and/or life fulfillment.

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Made all the "wrong" choices, still came out OK

To me, being successful means...
Being able to positively impact people's lives.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
When I was younger I wanted to be able to control more of my path. I had very different goals at that time in my life - most of which involved non-sustainable career paths (like the arts).

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Real Life

To me, being successful means...
Discovering, accepting, and celebrating who I am and my unique potential to influence the world around me.

My definition of success has changed over time. 
I used to have a vague sense of what success was. Never being particularly career or money driven, I always tended to relish the moment and dream of the future. I had pictures in my mind of who I wanted to be as a person, not necessarily what I was doing.

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