Rene Descartes, a french philosopher published a phrase in Latin and French in 1647 that is commonly translated as “I think, therefore I am”.

Arguably, any intelligent being, artificial or otherwise can subjectively declare their existence using this statement.  The concept tweaked my interest the other day as I contemplated the meaning of success.

I think I am successful, therfore I am

Unfortunately, success requires validation and while self validation is satisfying, is it accurate?  If others don’t view me as successful, does it matter what I think?

This leads to the potential statement ” Others think I am successful, therefore I am”.   This also is largely a subjective assessment.  The true measure  is probably more likely founded in objectivity.

So how do I know if I am Successful?

Success is associated with achievement.  If the goal is clearly defined with associated measures to indicate when it has been achieved, measuring success can be very objective.

This applies to very specific activities (i.e., the goal) and can very greatly depending on your personal goal.

For one person, a goal could be to have accumulated one million dollars by age fifty while for another the accumulational of money might not even be on their list of goals at all.

One, rich at fifty, could claim success, while the other, potentially poor at fifty could also claim success.

And so success is very individual.  Arguably if your goal was to feel  successful, then stating (with conviction) “I think I am successful”, would become an objective measure of success.

That is, the statement would indicate you feel successful and since that was your goal, then you are successful.