What is success?

                                                        

Success is an old topic, however, each person’s understanding of success is different. Success is relative, everyone has his own criteria for success. Some people think that success is money, houses and cars. Some people think that success is something you want to do and do well. Some even deny the existence of success, he believes that there is no success in the world, only endless pursuit.
   Success is a kind of feeling that is a positive, confident feeling and a sense of satisfaction after achieving the goal. Anyway, different people have different definitions of success. I think success is a combination of things---health, happiness, material prosperity, love of family and friends, wisdom, influence and fulfillment. The only way to reach a successful one, first, people need to learn how to pay for something that ordinary people cannot do.  I am a women, so I think my success is to “be myself” ---I can do my own thing what I want, I can do the thing that make people happy ; my husband love me and the family, and I also can help my husband to achieve his dream ; I can let family be harmony and happiness, without family disputes. My children can get a good education and play their strengths; at night, I can have a drink what I like and I can enjoy the night and see passers-by quietly . I personally agree that success is “knowledge + passion + confidence + hard-work.”

   Many people ask me why you are still in college and how you can focus on your education. I want to say if you have these in mind and act it, success is waiting for you.

1. Believe the power of Knowledge.  “It’s never too late to learn”. Knowledge plays an important role in someone’s success. To achieve a goal; someone should keep learning different new things. We have great chances to learn and learn in American. Many of my friends and my relatives are so confusing why I quit my former job which is many people want and come to American and start a new one. I told them that I want to get more chances to fulfill myself and more chances for my son’s future because the United States has the world’s top teaching resources. That is, if you can study in American, you have more opportunities to find the true yourself. Now I was studying at Chabot College, I am learning something new, I am adapting to a new culture, I am so happy I can study here. And I know getting education is the first step to my success because I can learn much more knowledge and I believe the power of the knowledge, I will not be left behind by the society.

2. Make your goal. I realize that no matter what you think and what you do or the way you communicate to others can make people see opportunities, and these opportunities can lead to a close to your goal. I have heard many stories about successful people, goals had been in their mind for many years before they achieved their goal, they know what they need, they also know how to do it, and however, they need the time and hard-work to achieve their goal. This is not my personal theory, this has been proved in Napoleon Hill’s book Think and Grow Rich, this book deals with how to get rich and how the philosophy can be used to help people succeed in all lines of work and to do or be almost anything they want. Anyone who want to be a successful person, he or she has to set a goal and work hard. “It is important in life not to be strong, but to feel strong and to measure yourself at least once. If you want something in life, reach out and grab it.” I think this quote represents Christopher McCandless had a strong feeling in finding himself; he has already made decision to achieve his goal of life no matter what will happen. He is kind of dedication and admirable. My goal in Chabot is getting my first AS degree in America, with help of the great and intelligence professors, I almost get it. 

3. Trust yourself.   Life always leaves us some huge, bad setback; therefore, it is very easy for us to give up our faith. We can give up faith on a lot of things, but never give up faith on ourselves; you need to believe yourself, because you can get everything you want. In the book Into the Wild Christopher McCandless wrote down “Don´t hesitate or allow yourself to make excuses. Just get out and do it. Just get out and do it. You will be very, very glad that you did.” (58) This quote shows Chris tried to encourage an old man to move out, eventually, he succeeded. Yes, he is right. Sometimes a person doesn't need to have too much hesitation to do what he or she loves, instead of trusting himself--- I can do it. If you have such a mindset, and success is just a matter of time, you will be very happy what you did. Actually, at the beginning at Chabot College, I was so scared and shy, I seldom talked to my colleagues because my limited English and culture differences, I ever wanted to withdraw, but after two quizzes, I found I have abilities to get good grade as native-Americans. Then I have confidence to continue my study and work hard, so I got good grade for each semester.

4. Try and never give up.    No cross, no crown. Most successful people have encountered a lot of the frustration and failure that you cannot imagine. Do you know the person who created Coca-Cola just wanted to give his company a name and he had failed 17 times? But the company now has billions in assets because he insisted believing himself and never gives up even after 17 times failure. Another example about the successful athletes, do you know the training stories behind them, if they give up because once failure, can they see the bright day? Of course not. “The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.”(57)I think this quote represents Chris’s attitude to the adventure of life, he might not know if he will have a successful life, but he will not be satisfied with each his adventure, he want to get more out of life, and he likes to try new things endlessly. That is, if you want to be successful, you must have the spirit of perseverance. You have to learn from each failure, you need to treat it as a successful experience rather than treat it as evidence of your incompetence. You may change the methods for your success, but never give up. No matter it will be successful, you should try, no try, no result. In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer writes down “But [Everett] and McCandless, at least they tried to follow their dream. That’s what was great about them. They tried. Not many do.”(96) Yes, I agree that. Although Chris McCandless is death, he tried. If he didn't have the passion to find new lifestyle or he never acts it out, he would not succeed in finding himself. He would not understand the real happiness in life is “Happiness only real when shared.”(189)

Success is also a process, and the road to success is not always smooth; to be successful, someone need to have a certain ability, wisdom, opportunity and time , all these can be the barriers to a success. Maybe, it’s not easy to grasp an opportunity, or it comes fast and go fast, so when the opportunity came, you should be ready. I think language is the greatest barrier to my success in America; of course, I also need opportunity to prove myself. I don’t know whether I can be successful in the future, but I will keep on learning and improving myself through my study or work. I will look for opportunity; I believe if I am ready I can grasp it.