Definition Essay: The Price Of Success

“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” This quote by legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi demonstrates the key values of obtaining success. Everyone can look back and imagine a point in their lives when they experienced their own personal success story, whether it was getting an A on a major test or as simple as beating a level in a video game. Success, as with mostly everything else in life, changes and progresses throughout a person’s life. For an adolescent between the ages of six to ten, success may be from putting a Lego set together. For a young adult such as myself, success can be many complex elements.

If there is an individual who can achieve all three of these levels of achievement, then they are destined to have a prosperous life. Unquestionably, personal success is distinctive and diverse. We can’t all be entrepreneurs and inventors. We do need some people to “succeed” at mopping floors, picking up garbage, and taking care of the house. Nonetheless, In America, their vision of this attainment is based on the “American Dream”. Prosperity and happiness are a few stereotypical aspirations of this so-called “American Dream”. Similarly, my concept of personal success is not far-off from the “American Dream”. When I was little my mom would always tell me, “Kole, as long as you are happy and as long as you love what you are doing; you have the world in the palm of your hands”. However, I could

This couldn’t be further from the truth. Societal success is not based on how much money you make or what type of job you have; societal success is attained by aspiring to reach your own goals and dreams with the goals “society” has already made for us. For example, when you meet someone, eventually you will fall in love and get married. Normally, if we have met that “Mrs./Mr. Right”, lived appreciatively, started a family, and raised our children well you have achieved a part of societal success. But what does this really mean? I ask you to consider the most persecuted and attacked individuals within our modern day society. The population of homosexuals and transvestites to most individuals are considered to be unsuccessful. Every day they are shunned by countless numbers of people for who they are and what they believe in. But is their image of societal success any different than ours? They vision of one day being accepted into society as being normal and being respected for their beliefs. Is this any different from us? Our natural tendencies as humans are to impress others and fit in. Similarly, A part of societal success is also to learn to treat people well. Being nice has more potential than you would think. One small compliment could change a person’s entire day. Not only does it make their day