Adrienne Smith's Definition of Success

Trying to live up to the social construct that is constantly changing is unattainable, but I think I seem to forget that. When I try to better myself, I lose sight of who I’m trying to better myself for; which poses the question, “do I care about how I view myself or my peers opinions?” My goals are set based on what others are doing with their lives. If I hear someone talking about trying to go to sleep earlier, I feel as though I should try to do that the same. The crazy thing is, I go to bed at nine o’clock and don’t even need to change when I go to sleep at night! Just the sheer fact that there is something that someone else is trying to improve on, makes me feel like I should try to do that too.

My definition of success is doing what I can each day to the best of my ability.

Each day can be a new struggle, so it is difficult to compare each days successes as linear. If I can’t bring myself to do my homework at an earlier time, do I not deserve to feel successful? I feel that if I do the best I can, considering how I’m feeling each day, I am successful if I put my best foot forward. In my opinion, trying to compare yourself to everyone around you leads to not ever feeling successful. If I were to constantly try to be like someone else, I would never find my own strengths or weaknesses to improve on.

Success is a construct created by advertisers that implies that everyone needs to be thinner, healthier, nicer, funnier, and prettier. Well, I think to be successful, I need to meet a standard I set for myself every day. If twenty percent energy is all you can give that day, then you’re still successful, because success is not consistently being the best you can be, but giving the best you can for that day. It is difficult to give one hundred percent everyday, even if the advertisements in magazines and TV shows say otherwise. The person or character you try to embody is not all perfect and not completely successful, so trying to make yourself be perfect in every aspect of your life is unrealistic and harmful to your self worth.

Trying to better yourself can make you lose sight of the amazing qualities you already have if you are persistently trying to improve. It is important to set your own definition of success to remind yourself that you’re already successful even if your day today was not as great as the day prior. If you think that you are not successful, you are bound to never feel like you are good enough. It is important to remember that success is not a linear concept, and not everyone is perfect; in fact, just about nobody is.