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Success: Extended Definition Essay examples

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Success What is success? Is it the process of doing a task and receiving a positive result acceptable amongst the community, or is it simply achieving ones own personal goals? Success to me can mean many things. Although I am successful in school, that does not necessarily mean I will lead a successful life. According to The American Heritage Dictionary success is, "the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted." Even over the course of history, the meaning of the word has not really changed. In the Webster's Dictionary from 1828, success was stated as, "the favorable or prosperous termination of anything attempted; a termination which answers the purpose intended; properly in a good sense, but often in a bad …show more content…

"Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once and a while; you don't do things right once and a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit, and unfortunately so is losing. There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that is first. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don't ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowel game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It has always been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win (Lombardi)." I however disagree with this opinion. We are successful everyday by accomplishing even small tasks that are required to get by in life. To most of us, tying a shoe is a practice that has become very routine, but to some this can be a huge endeavor. We as Americans take literacy for granted. According to a commentary by Regina Lee Wood, director of research for the National Right to Read Foundation, the United States has a work force literacy rate of 76% (OCPA). For a person to be able to read, that is a success in it's own. "Success is relative: It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things (Elliot). Success has many different levels. In order to succeed, one must try; in order to try, one must believe in themselves. If we believe in ourselves, then we have already succeeded. Ralph

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