Quotemining: how do you define success?

I'm currently developing a new post on a topic of great personal significance and interest: the idea of success.

All over the Internet and on bookshelves around the world, we are barraged by guides that can help us attain success. They describe the traits of successful people, presumably for the purposes of emulation. Everyone wants to be successful, right? It's a word that gets tossed around a lot.

There are notably fewer resources available that engage with defining the concept of success itself, although there is some decent stuff out there. It's something I spend a lot of time thinking about.

I'd like to ask you to help me out with my writing by sharing your own thoughts and sharing resources. I want to hear from you! Please leave a comment, tweet at me, or if you'd like you can email me at chelseaedgell[at]gmail.com.

Here are some questions to consider:

- How do you define success? (Be honest.)
- Picture a prototypical successful person in your head. What does that person look like? What do they do?
- What does it mean to be successful?
- How does the concept of success relate, in your mind, to the ideas of motivation and potential?
- How does the concept of success relate to achievements, accomplishments, or credentials?
- How does the concept of success relate to the idea of impact, social influence or notoreity?
- When you think of success, do you think of social, financial, spiritual or academic matters first? (Or maybe something else?)

Note that unless you ask me not to do so, I will attribute any quotes to the person who shares them according to the supplied identifiers. Thanks in advance!