By Kim Seong-woo

A Student in English Essay Writing Class, KHU

brandon0374@naver.com

“The secret of success is to do the common thing uncommonly well,” says John D. Rockefeller Jr. Do you think that this is the only definition of success? Undoubtedly, success plays a significant role in people’s daily lives in many of the places where they work or play. Some people think that there is only one meaning for success, while others do not. Even though there are two kinds of meanings of the word ‘success’, such as the literal definition and the extended definition, one can find various kinds of standards, values, meanings, and examples for success in people’s daily lives.

On the one hand, according to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, the literal definition of success is both the fact that you have achieved something that you want and have been trying to do or get and the fact of becoming rich or famous or of getting a high social position. The word ‘success’ comes from the Latin words ‘succedere’ and ‘successus’. ‘succedere’ means ‘ascend, get on well, prosper, and be victorious,’ and ‘successus’ means ‘an advance, a good result, and happy outcome.’ In ancient society, success was related to fecundity. For example, the Venus of Willendorf shows the meaning of success in the past because it symbolizes a greater power with bearing many young.

On the other hand, according to the extended definition of success, there are various kinds of standards, values, and meanings for being successful in life. This is because many people pursue different kinds of things, such as money, honor, power, love, and friendship, to succeed in their lives. This means that achieving self-realization is the extended definition of success. Unlike ancient society, in modern society, the meaning of success has been changed. For instance, career women do not want to have a baby because childcare negatively affects their promotions in their workplaces. Also, young people sometimes quit their jobs to try to find a new type of success by being Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE).

On top of that, based on the extended definition of success, one can find various types of success in people’s daily lives. In the case of billionaires, money or property is the most important factor for them to have much success. When it comes to politicians, they try to get much power and more votes which are very essential for their successful careers. However, farmers do not need to have a lot of money or power because a bumper year for the crop is the most successful moment for them. Moreover, volunteers, who work in underdeveloped countries to help marginalized people, think that it is their real success to change society positively for the poor, disabled, and elderly people living in the countries.

To sum up, there are two ways to define success using the literal and the extended definition. However, it is hard to define success by using just only one word or sentence because there are a lot of meanings and examples related to success. Therefore, whatever people pursue to be successful in their lives, they should focus on achieving self-realization, which is the real definition of success.