define Success

All goals must presuppose values. And the measures of success should be very specific.

I love these:

• To listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with an open heart;
• To appreciate beauty;
• To seek elegance rather than luxury;
• To live content with small means;
• To study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly;
• To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
• To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
• To bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, never in a hurry;
• To find the best in others;
• To give of oneself without the slightest thought of return;
• To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a rescued soul, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
• To play with enthusiasm and sing with exaltation;
• To laugh often and much;
• To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
  
  • This is to have succeeded…
    
    • to have filled my niche and accomplished all my tasks;
    • leaving this world better than I found it.

(The above is a re-ordering and generalization of quotations often attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson. See http://wiki.43folders.com/index.php/User:Gochess/quotes
for specific history of alleged authors.)