Everyone wants to be successful but few people have a grasp on what being successful really means, and this could prevent them from every attaining the success and achievement that they could have reached if it had been more clearly defined for them. Even the Webster Dictionary does not clearly define what success means. 

According to the Webster Dictionary, success means “outcome; results; degree or measure of succeeding; favored or desired outcome.” We now know what the word ‘success’ means, but we still have no idea what it actually means to be successful. This is something that we must determine for ourselves, but what can we use to measure success? 

Many people use the success of their family members, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances to measure their own success and find personal satisfaction and achievement in that. If they are keeping up financially and materially with those around them, they count themselves as successful. While this is one way of looking at success, this can be a detrimental measurement as well. What appears to be success isn’t always success. A person could be financially stable and have nice things, but still be an utter failure in all other matters of life as a whole. 

The truth is that success simply means different things to different people, and no two people are alike. Life is a series of small successes and failures, as well as big successes and failures all combined into one fully rounded person. Failures actually are a part of success, because if you never fail at anything, you will never know when you have succeeded. You have to determine what success means to you, and in what areas of your life you need more success. 

This begins by setting realistic goals for different areas of your life. These areas may include: 

- Your Inner Self - This relates to the type of person you are on the inside. It relates to your morals and values, how you treat other people, your personal code of honor, your integrity, your character and things like this. Determine what parts of your inner self you do not feel are successful, set goals, and make changes to become a better person. 

- Your Outer Shell - Everyone wants to look good, but not all people are born with good physical characteristics. It doesn’t matter what other people think of how you look. The only thing that matters is how you feel about how you look on the outside. If you do not like something about your outer shell, make goals and make changes until you feel good about how you look, even if it means saving up money for cosmetic surgery. Just make sure that you are making changes for your own happiness, and not to please someone else. 

- Your Health - Good health is essential to human life, and therefore, essential to success as well. This does not mean that people with disabilities cannot be successful. It means that you should do what needs to be done to stay as healthy as possible at all times, and make changes to your life to ensure that you are successfully being as healthy as is possible for you. 

- Your Family and Social Interactions - Do you have a successful marriage or loving relationship? How is your relationship with your children, your extended family members, your neighbors, and your co-workers? Social interaction is a huge part of the human experience. How are your social skills? Do they need improvement? Are you taking the time that is needed with your personal relationships to ensure the health and growth of those relationships? 

- Your Financial Situation - Everyone wants more money, but how much is enough to make you feel successful? Are you a success if you make a certain amount of money each year? What about your savings and investments? Are you prepared for retirement? Can you send your kids to college? Money is important, but it isn’t everything. This is just a small aspect of your life - even though it can seem like a huge obstacle at times. Write down your financial goals, make smaller goals to reach those goals, and work on it. Just make sure that your quest for financial success does not get in the way of reaching success in other, more important aspects of your life. Remember that money really is the root of all evil. 

- Your Career - Have you chosen a career? Are you happy in that career? Have you worked your way to the very top, only to discover that you cannot succeed any further in your chosen field? Think carefully about your career and where it is going, or where it might take you, with the understanding that a large portion of your life is spent working. The key is to not only be successful in your career, but to also be happy in your career. If you are not happy, you cannot truly be successful. 

- Your Material Belongings - Material belongings are often associated with money, because money is required to acquire those material things in most cases. Some people, however, have little interest in personal belongings, and more interest in holding onto money, while other people have little or no interest in either. Determine what you view as successful in terms of material belongings, and again, work hard to acquire the belongings that you feel add to your success. 

- Your Habits - Do you smoke, drink or gamble? These things rarely lead to success and can destroy other aspects of your life easily. Think carefully about your habits and whether they are contributing to your success in other areas, or hindering your success and achievement. Make goals, and of course, make changes. 

There may be other areas of your life that you feel need improvement for you to feel like a true success. Do some soul searching and write down the different areas of your life that you feel make you a whole person, and then think about each area and whether or not those areas need improvements or changes. Set goals to make those changes, and then work towards those goals. Remember, however, that reaching success is an ongoing activity because we all continue to grow and change as human beings. Success and achievement mean that you continue to grow, learn, and make changes to different aspects of your life on a continuing basis.