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Anita Doron
Toronto
Canada

filmmaker - curator of magic unrealism,

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Wealth and power have been our conventional measures of success. What definition will better sustain us now and how can we move into it?

The other day, my mother mentioned that she hasn't accomplished anything in her life. (She's a forest and machine engineer who hasn't found a suitable job since immigrating from the Soviet Union 20 years ago) It broke my heart to hear this. We live in a world that makes people value themselves more and more singularly by their career highs and financial prowess.

The conventional model of success has proven to be destructive, separating and pitting us against each other in competition.

What would be a better definition of accomplishment for us and how could we collectively shift toward embracing this?

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worawit wisitiwong
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Jul 2 2011: I preety agree with you. Sure
Claudia Gama
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Jul 2 2011: I think the problem starts when we try to measure the value of anyone's life in terms of success. There's no prize when we get to the end, there's only the way itself. Maybe it would be richer to reflect about what accomplishment means for each one, and I guess there are many different answers for this.
echo wavesounder
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Jun 28 2011: once we success to find out our true nature of mind or Human being through doing deep meditation.
Alexander Shand
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Jun 26 2011: 'To laugh often and much; 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 appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.'
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Jack Dear
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Jun 10 2011: Simply put, Success is a measurement of satisfaction and happiness in your life. Its very much about the journey, alot of the conventional measures of success aspire to an ending, that doesn't exist.
Sajeesh Raghav
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Jun 7 2011: Long before on an olden day, an ancient scholar was sitting alone, near a walk way on a rock .he was naked and was in deep thought. A well dressed man was passing over him; he looked at this naked man and asked...
Why aren’t you wearing any clothes?
The naked man replied with a question...
Why are you wearing clothes?
If we analyze this conversation, we could find out how the world fashion is evolving.
It will explain how humanity is percept with perceptions.
How silly is human mind which will absorb feedback from all the senses to make both the side of a coin statement.
This will also support Shakespeare, who wrote,
There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it.
We need to assign a time allotment for every thought that flip up through our mind.
Whenever a thought pops up,
Ask how much time I need to invest in this thought.
5 minutes, 50 minutes, 100 minutes, 24 days or life long?
Life time can be divided with equal time slots,
When a particular time slot meets with an opportunity, the mind will attract it by forcing us to work with the opportunity given.
It will manifest our hidden symbolisms of success in the outside world.
Just imagine,
This miracle can happen at any time.
What miracle we are expecting is according to our perceptions.
Our perception is what we see, smell, touch heard...In the life time...
So it’s deferent according to everyone.
Success is hard work without fear on your bestowed arena.
Say thanks to all the men in the past who have done hard work to make our life better for us in the past and present.
They all were never so rich and successful according to our present standards.
So, time plays a huge role, on defining success
We can either spend time by thinking about success or can work hard and keep us successful.
Again it’s a personal choice...
Thomas Jones 100+
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Jun 6 2011: Helping others is a good thing but I think it is a mistake to use that as a definition for success.

What if it is me who is in need?

Does that mean I am not successful?

What if we were so collectively successful there was no one else to "help?" (Think about that! What would we do it there were no problems to solve? What would TED do?)

This discussion reminds me of a quote by W.H. Auden: "We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know."
Will Patch
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Jun 6 2011: My personal definition of whether or not I have been successful in a day is to think about whether or not I have impacted someone's life in a positive way. Every evening I think about this and if I have not I try to think of ways to change what I did that day so I don't make the same mistake.

From another source though, Chris Rock said "Being rich is not about having money; it's about having options." This could just as easily be about success rather than riches.
Thomas Jones 100+
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Jun 6 2011: Hi James,

You say:

I think we need to ask/answer two questions:
- What are the behaviours we want to encourage to build the World we want (new technologies, efficiency, innovation, freedom etc etc) to see
- What is the "Rewards System" that rewards folks for doing these thing?

I am familiar with the framework within which these questions make sense, I teach "soft skills" to Chinese businesspeople but I do not think answering them will lead us to the outcomes we actually want.

If we look at the "BIG PROBLEMS" we are trying to solve, most, if not all of them are the result of us "solving problems" in the first place.

I do not think we can think our way out of problems we thought ourselves into. (How's that for a statement with some pretty fundamental internal flaws!?)

I am not suggesting we throw our hands up in despair. Nor I am I suggesting we give up trying to solve the problems we have created. What I am suggesting is we answer your question at a much deeper level than we usually do.

For one thing, the concept of a "reward system" is, on its face, a good idea but when we look a little deeper it can have a less than attractive side: Who sets up the system and for whom?

Gotta go for dinner ... bye for now.

Thomas
Nic Marks 100+
- +1
TED Speaker TED Attendee

Jun 6 2011: Broadly speaking people think of success as either about achievement of external goals (extrinsic) or internal satisfactions (intrinsic). So for example - financial success is an extrinsic goal, but love is intrinsic. Beauty, body image, celebrity, fame - values held very dear by our societies these days are all extrinsic - and this is before we get to winning and money ... Generally intrinsic goals are more a more fruitful way to happiness and fulfillment but obviously extrinsic ones bring us status ... this tension between external status and internal happiness (contentment - fulfilment) is surely externally with us - it must have given us genetic advantages over the millenium ...
BUT it would seem that our public definitions of success are exceptionally biased towards the extrinsic - to the neglect of the intrinsic ... the way our economies are geared - we are all in service of the profit motive - often at a disregard for our own well-being and that of the customers/clients (and indeed supply chains - who are after all just other people) ... there is nothing 'wrong' with extrinsic goals - it is the over-emphasis - the crowding out - the ignoring- of the intrinsic ones that is the problem (in my opinion of course!) ... and this creates other problems - such as huge inequalities (as we collectively lose sight of the 3 billion people living on less than $2.5 a day and the homeless [very often mentally ill] people living on our streets ... as a society - a global society - we are simply not taking care of our less fortunate brothers and sisters ... and this is before we think about other species and climate change (!)
I think our narrow view of success as being finanical is hugely problematic and is at the root of so many personal and planetary issues ... success should be a balanced scorecard -yes some extrinsic goals but many intrinsic ones ...
Alfred Otto
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Jun 6 2011: Anita: First let me say that your mother is not a failure. she brought into this world and raised you with enough sense to ask this question of yourself, and indeed to the world. so you tell her kudos from me. next I am not sure if we can change from a capitlistic wealth driven society. at least I don't see it happening in the near future. What we can do is try to correct some of the things that is wrong with our current system of wealth and power. I have read most of the comments on here from individuals such as James Walker, Andrea Walstrom, etc. some of the things they discussed like Henry Ford, Edison, and the Industrial revolution, are only tangents in the bigger picture of a society moving forward and evolving. We humans are so immature in the big scheme of things. I think for the moment if we just put some guidelines on what we can and cannot do to measure success we will do just fine. some of those guidelines that should be put into place are education for everyone who wants it. stop teaching to the slowest person in our class rooms. All the wealth should not be allowed to pile up at one end of the spectrum (what does 1 person need with a 100 billion dollars?) that's hoarding! My mother used to make these amazing cinnamon rolls when i was a child. I always wanted to eat them all at once. but she said if I did that then I would make myself sick, and she was right. to much of anything is bad for you, even if it's good. the same can be said for business and capitalism. A little goes a long way. and rampant runaway capitalism makes our society sick. It becomes a cancer that feeds on itself with greed and coruption running rampant. starving the base of society till it all comes tumbling to the ground. For those at the top with all the money if you would just give some of that largess to causes that further human education, and ease the suffering of those that no longer have, you too will be a success at being a human being.
Samit Koirala
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Jun 6 2011: I believe that 'success' should be measured using two parameters:- 1. what resources/opportunities you got in your life? and 2. what you are now? If you did best with your resources/opportunities then you are successful else not.
Ed Schulte 50+
- +1
Jun 5 2011: Hello Anita …Tusting this finds you well
I attended a local TEDx program recently and recalled your thread/question on “conventional measures of Success” This presentation, much more then just its title, “Ted Wooden on true success” address what I referred to as “Te” in my previous response. And what is more, Wooden in his sharing indeed covers many topics floated here on the TED chat board, fear of failure, what is happiness, use of poetry, value of religious teaching etc.

This video

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/john_wooden_on_the_difference_between_winning_and_success.html

was held at the local University …at lunchtime…mainly senior students / a few Profs … 45 / 50 total …female/ male ratio 3/1 . Average age 30ish ( this branch of the U is for post and second degrees ) The open discussion after headed immediately towards open expression of ending up in the situation your mother expressed. 15 -18 persons spoke, ( same f/m distribution 3/1) and a few expressed the same type of option/positions expressed here on this thread.
I was left with doubt that the majority did not see/hear/feel the core essence of Wooden’s talk, the Quality Energy of his Presence (Te) and simplicity ( the most important element in Design).

So I end by waving a flag at TED ORGANIZATION and suggest that a follow up to this video be made. One in which the athletes this man coached share their perspective(s) on the influence Wooden had on them wrt to the obvious (and not so obvious) “successes” they went on the create relative in their lives wrt their experiences with Wooden.
inthegarden beyondthecave
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Jun 5 2011: To "succeed" means to acheive a goal. So "success" will be defined by the projects we chose to have. Wealth and power become the measures of success in a society that has chosen to follow what Neiztche called the will to power.

The will to power is the way of life that florishes in the cave in Plato's allegory of the cave. So the question becomes whether there is an alternative as Plato suggests. Is there a different way of life guided by The Good? Is there true goodness, or is there just a big competition between the powerful to determine how we will think about goodness?

I know a man who has lived the humble life of a school teacher. After he retired, he used the expertise he had gained to organize projects to improve literacy of children, to recognize the accomplishments of teenagers who had overcome some sort of adversity, to help young people to go to college, to help families provide christmas presents for their children who could otherwise not provide them. Financially, he lives an ordinary middle class retirement life.

To those of us who believe that the golden rule defines the essential project of our species, he is a great success.

To those who measure success by wealth, he is a looser as compared to the ceo who raises his own salary up from 5 figures to 7 figures by cutting the health and retirement benefits of the company employees, and by running the company into the ground, but makiing sure he gets out with a golden parachute before the company hits bottom.

In The Logic of Life, economist Tim Harford explains that executives are not really worth the salaries they are paid, but the high salary is justified since it functions as an incentive to everyone else to strive for that executive position.

However, the problem with that and measuring success by great disperaties in wealth is that it puts a premium on dishonesty and cheating.

I highly recommend David Callahan's book: The Cheating Culture. His website is:

http://www.cheatingculture.com
Jim Moonan 30+
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Jun 5 2011: @ Tony

"It is up to us to give a human meaning to the word 'ambition'."

I think you are absolutely right.

If we could get other like-minded people in every corner of the world to begin to organise and form a "One World" movement I could die a happy man.

Also get educators to plant the seeds of "One World" in the heads of our children.....
Mohammad Tauheed 500+
- +1
TED Fellow TED Attendee TED Translator TEDx Organizer Associate Language Coordinator

Jun 4 2011: Thanks Anita for this topic.

New definitions are arriving. In the new world of technology, social-networks and self-initiated media platforms, the notion of success is no more bound to wealth and power. The feeling of being successful is now the feeling of how well-received you are in your network and beyond. I think it is more about the reception, love of people and one's overall popularity in the communities they belong to, on the web and in the physical world. These stuffs neither require money nor power, they require knowledge, intelligence, originality, responsiveness, engagement and humility.

If you count money, I am sure I am one of the poorest men ever attended TED Conferences; so far 5 times, either as a Fellow or a volunteer guest or as a Senior Fellow. I earn more or less 170 USD per month.
And power? I think I have some LOL! It is the byproduct of my design works, literary works, networking, community and voluntary activities, like there's a big bunch of young folks who love to listen to me, and I got some so-called 'powerful' connections locally and internationally (generally those are of no good). You may call these as 'power', I don't know!

And I don't count myself among 'successful', but I got some experiences and success stories those are somewhat beyond the imagination of the folks of similar ages in my community.

None of these are achieved by wealth or power, and none of these literally brought me wealth or power, yet I am well-received, loved by people and I find that love far more valuable than typical success of wealth or power.

So the new equation of success is ideas+actions+humility. And people are learning to accept that, TED itself is a big example. And I hope these new definitions will sustain and soon they are going take over mere money and power as the measuring scale of success.
Sajeesh Raghav
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Jun 4 2011: Many times I felt, when I talk to the people around me, that I am in conversation with, antidepressants, vine bottles, pills, beer bottles...Deferent brands make deferent opinion.
Anitha,I think, should get the ingredients from around you, wash it, remove unwanted stuffs, and cook your own loving recipe.
The biggest problems are resolved from silence within,
Let’s be the part of solution than the part of problem,
“Success is present”
Onic Palandjian
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Jun 3 2011: Greece and its people are at an all-time low. It's labelled as the failed state of Europe. And prospects are discouraging. Young Greeks are emigrating in fear of expected anarchy. Faced with so many negatives, I share my passion for the things that matter most. Things that make me, and many other Greeks, happy in Greece. Even at this time of crisis.
Eudaimonia is a uniquely Greek word.
I explain what it means to me in my TEDx talk - my passport to eudaimonia (happiness+). --> http://bit.ly/iBaBCa
Tony Sanchez
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TED Translator

Jun 3 2011: Maybe we should look at the people that really affected the world we currently live in, on the positive side, and ask ourselves what were their motivations to move forward in those particular directions.

Personally, and I am not a well educated scientist, but Nicola Tesla is the name that comes to my mind when it comes to thanksgivings. Probably not the most popular scientist in the eye of the common, but certainly the one most of our contemporary advancements came from.

In my naive eyes and solely based on the writings of others on the myth, I see a man thrived to put back mankind on the rails of evolution through progress and bettering the world for all who live in it.

It is up to us to give a human meaning to the word 'ambition'.
Lara Sasaran 10+
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Associate

Jun 3 2011: Great question Anita.

Recently I've been asking that question and have come to the conclusion that I get the most out of life when I am encouraged and inspired by other people - whatever form they hand it to me with. As I get older I am realizing the need for me to do the same and stop concerning myself with financial security/success.

So my answer would be to encourage inspiring others at a younger age so we can become champions of all at the same time as being their competition. I think it can be more than just "team spirit" because that is a simple answer. I believe that if we grade ourselves not only based on our personal successes, but by all those that we touch, fulfillment and respect can be widen to a degree that even I cannot comprehend.

That is my path now and I would ask your mother who she has inspired and encouraged along the way - she did a great job in raising you since you are so inquisitive and thoughtful in asking this question.
Amir Hanjani
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Jun 3 2011: Creativity is driven by need for survival. Therefore, social system are the reason for killing creativity. As an evidence, most people in middle eastern and asian countries have high level of education, and strong theoretical scientific knowledges, but due to their social system, there has been no need to be creative to help the society to survive. As for for example, in US, due to lack of social services, and unpredictability of sustainability, creativity has been a necessity for survival. One might argue that a lot of contribution resulted from creativity has been provided by the east, but they did when social system was not established yet. Also climate is another driving force for creativity. If you are living on the beach and coconut drops on your head, you really don't have to do much to live one. But if you are by north pole, then you have to be creative to feed yourself and keep yourself warm. So I don't think schools are responsible for killing creativity, its the social system!
James Stork
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Jun 2 2011: Unfortunately we measure success by comparison to others or not meeting our dreams. I also have broken dreams and have a hard time not comparing myself to others. I celebrate success when I realize independance, survivability, simplicity, and look at the things I have without external comparison. Are you happy with "your" life, not another person's interpretation of what your life should be. But your life. If the rest of the world ceased to exist: Would you be happy with your life and personal social grouping. Our minds are wired for small social groupings and small community living. Our ancestors living in small communities often had very similar lifestyles and therefore had little to compare each other to. It is only with the increase in complexity and population of society that we began having self doubt as to our success. What is succes? Maybe it is measured in personal happiness.

Thank You
Steve Stone
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Jun 2 2011: Bhutan is making strides using a "Gross Domestic Happiness" scale - http://www.grossnationalhappiness.com/gnhIndex/resultGNHIndex.aspx instead of Gross Domestic Product.

So they ask things like "can you trust your neighbors?" and "how safe do you feel walking in your neighborhood after dark?" in addition to the "how much money do you make?"

I guess first we need to define success well. Currently in the USA, we seem to define it clearly in just dollars. I'm old enough to have children in high school, and I remember a time when people who made less, but contributed more (teachers, fire fighters, etc.) were held in higher esteem than they seem to be now.

Will local currencies like Ithaca Hours http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ithaca_Hours help?

Do we have good ways to get people to act locally?

Maybe re=working the Bhutan questionnaire for your country / area is a first place to start. Start running the poll in your town/neighborhood.
Maxime Touzel
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Jun 2 2011: Wealth is never generated elsewhere than from debt. The unbalance of the monetary system is overwhelming. The success measured by the amount of wealth you have can not truly be called success, it is merely the weight that counter balance for many many poor people.

Success must return to a more basic value, like happiness. Not only for the individual but for the community as a whole. Not only for a nation or a country but for all the people of the world.

The current system is about to fall, it's only a matter of time, make yourself a favor and stop measuring your success by the amount of wealth you take from others and start measuring your success by the amount of love you give to others.

If your only goal is to make profit to increase your amount of wealth and your power by the same mean, you will become addicted to this state and you will be ready to do the most horrible things to increase your wealth and power. Until now the ordinary people (individually powerless) know this and they have let it be for a while, but now the young are refusing to be controlled by the few rich multinational corps.

A World is about to Fall and a New is about to Rise.

The multitude of slaves are about to take back the control from the rich, as it happens every once in a while when the pleb is tired of the ways of the aristocracy.
gabriel Pearson
- +2
Jun 1 2011: There is no us, and there is no big picture. There is the individual (meaning oneself) and the details in the day to day, work on changing those and you will have your wealth and power. Many things of great value are often overlooked in an attempt to look for the "greater good" that we cannot prove we will find or achieve. In this search for big results the details are overlooked and sometimes the greater good just becomes the less obvious evil. Value life. All life.
- James Walker 30+
  - 0
  TED Attendee
  
  Jun 2 2011: Excellent post Gabriel.
  I actually can't comment on your post, just wholeheartedly agree.
  We need to seek ways to crate a Value exchange (Wealth?) that reduces friction for personal trade.
  Wealth seems as good as any so far, for getting folks to easily trade with each other, and the more efficient we become (better factory, innovated process, something that someone really value) the more wealth the individual can accumulate. Seems a pretty good system to get individuals to collaborate and innovate, making us all (not that there is an "us") better off.
Paul van Zoggel
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Jun 1 2011: To speak as a 'familyman'; Find a way to sustain yourself and spend the rest of the day/week with your beloved ones = success. The problem for a lot of us (and every year more) is we can't find a job doing something 'good' AND sustain yourself. So you have to become an innovator/entrepreneur, looking for followers and power to sustain yourself in doing good, though being burdened with taking care of so many people you don't have time anymore for your personal beloved ones.... A paradox..

Doing plenty good + Having plenty sparetime = success for yourself and the community.

So how to do good in work AND not to be absorbed by it.

Where are all those bachelors for life decided to love working for the good 24/7? Hire me! ;)
Roy Mulder
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Jun 1 2011: The best accomplishment anyone can make is to live sustainably and devote their life to enlightening individuals and groups about ways to improve the world. It's not about money. We have a very small window to address the key issues like overpopulation and destructive practices (overfishing, dirty industry like oil, mining, etc...). Our economic system does not serve us well. We need to design a system that takes a cradle to grave approach to manufacturing, clean-up previous environmental disasters and create political systems that actually work for the planet.
I have spent the last 20 years of my life volunteering on marine conservation initiatives. I have discovered that this isn't enough and have left the corporate world to take on these issues on a full-time basis. I have never felt more on track or happy.
Individuals that are affecting positive change for the planet are more important than ones working on achieving personal or financial goals. We have to take a more planetary centric point of view. It is one planet that we all share. No one owns the resources. This is a construct created by greedy individuals that are more about power than planetary health.
Charles Passero
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Jun 1 2011: In my opinion, some of the answers to this question lie in how literal we define wealth and power. If wealth can be only be attributed to those with high material value, then I believe we are in need of changed thinking. If wealth can be measured in how many people we have made a connection with in life then I think being wealthy is on a positive spin. All in all, our view of wealth and success is close to accurate. A wealthy person has probably made great connections with others and achieved in accordance with Maslow's needs. This is at least some form of success and one that not all achieve. Our view of being unique and having accomplishments feeds into this ideal of what a successful person "looks like". That said, we are definitely in need of progressive business models focused away from greed and isolation. Detracting humans from social and family life for becoming wealthy is not positive.
Power is a very relative term, but I agree it is a major measure of success. We all view power differently which probably makes it a bad standard for much of anything. If i am charged with making power an adequate measure of success; I am defining it as power over one's own body and mind. By looking within first we can create truly powerful, innovative thinkers and emotionally intelligent communicators.
Mike Wedderspoon
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Jun 1 2011: Are Wealth and Power conventional measures of success? I hope not. I am a big believer in that it is up to every individual to define what success means for them, and for them to strive to achieve this. There are plenty of people in vocational careers - e.g. religious leaders, teachers, healthcare professionals - who would absolutely recognise that they do not define their success by financial rewards, but by the positive impacts they have had on others.

Ultimately I suspect a lot of people would equate success with happiness, and while money might make some happy, a loving family, good friends, and a worthwhile contribution to society would resonate with me as more important drivers of happiness.

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