Definition Essay On Success

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Success According to Smithsonian Magazine, behind every success story there is an embarrassing first effort, a stumble, a setback or a dramatic change of direction (Crawford). These clumsy first steps begin a person's journey of success. The idea of being and feeling successful enhances lives. People create hopes, dreams, and aspirations, but there is no way to determine what success means to every person-- success is viewed in different ways. We all want success in some way. Sometimes when people think about being successful, the first thing that comes to mind is wealth, but being successful doesn’t have to deal with money or fame. Dictionary.com defines success as being, “a performance or achievment that is marked by attempts and endeavors …show more content…

I have a personal story that relates to success, which is my three year journey of participating in cross country. Entering the sport, I knew I would not be the number one runner and would not have a chance to be a varsity runner. I joined cross country because I wanted to be in shape and be able to socialize with my teammates. During my first season my interpretation of success was tested. At my first race, I placed in the “back of the pack” with a time of over thirty minutes. I was devastated; I questioned myself on why I even went out for the sport. Then I stepped back and realized that I did not have to be in the top ten runners to be successful. At that moment, I took a new outlook on what would define success for me in cross country. On the way to the next meet, I made a goal to beat my last time by at least thirty seconds. I would continue to transfer that goal throughout every meet of the season. Sometimes I would not reach my goal, but I still needed to remember that I finished the race and that was success to me. I would beat my goal here and there, and I was very proud of myself, but it wasn’t until my final race of my high school career that I truly felt the feeling of success. I had a goal to cross the finish line under thirty minutes, and I finished the race with a time of 28:52. Everyday people strive for major goals and success but fail to look at the little things in life that also represent

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