Success might mean, but is not limited to:

• a level of social status
• achievement of an objective/goal
• the opposite of failure

So, what is success? As seen in the definition above, it can be interpreted as three completely different, yet just as subjective meanings.

The opposite of failure. This is a loaded term. Failure at what? Failing at school? Does this mean if you graduate you were a success? I would venture to say this is true. Success in life? Does anyone ever attend a funeral and say that this person had a “failed” life? Probably not. Of course family and friends always try to remember the good things about a person.

Does success mean different things to different people? Within this statement lies the truly interesting and intangible argument. To someone with limited financial means growing up, their view of success could very well be finishing high school and attaining a job making $10 an hour for the remainder of their working years. For someone from a wealthy family this could mean graduating from Harvard Business School first in their class and working up the corporate ladder to CFO by age 35.

Where does self-actualization fit into this system? When does someone feel completely fulfilled? Do some people ever feel fulfilled during their lives? At what point does everything come together to create a truly self-aware and truly fulfilled person? Does a large percentage of the population ever feel this way? Is the idea of success tied to intelligence? I would venture to say not. While several intelligent people are very successful, others lack the drive and motivation to really work hard at being a successful member of society. There are also several moderately intelligent people that are able to do great things because they have worked hard and made sacrifices.

I am very motivated by my career and hope to achieve great things in that respect. When I fantasize about my own success, I rarely think in terms of spirituality, or even in terms of having children. I think a lot of women would place a greater emphasis on the idea of having children and raising a family to be “successful.” Does this make them any more noble than myself? Is raising a family or is earning $250,000 more successful? Where does society draw the line?

Is there a gender difference between the success of men vs. women? If a man stayed home and took care of his children while his wife went into work, would people think he was very successful? Why is the norm for women to stay home and do the household work? Is there a physical reason why women would be better suited for washing dishes and doing laundry?

For me personally, I struggle with feeling like I will never be able to feel “successful.” I feel there will always be more to do, more to see, and more money to earn. Not to say that I will not live a rich and fulfilling life. However, when I think about the future, which I do very often, I do not really see an end. I do not see a time when I can truly relax and say, “I’ve done all I needed to do.” Maybe this is because I am young and naive. Or perhaps it is because I have very high expectations of what I think my life should be and terrified if I wake up at age 50 stuck in some no-name corporation in middle management in a brown cubicle.

There is a segment of the population that I believe does not understand the concept of success. They truly believe that things are out of their control. If they do not get the job, it simply was not meant for them. Where a different segment of the population would think, “I did not prepare enough for the interview, or I should have taken that extra class on HTML5.” Truly successful people understand that their future is within their own hands. Life is what you make it. If you choose to let the things you want pass you by as you examine the “deeper meaning” then prepare to never move up and get ahead. Other people will be out there studying, networking, and getting where they really want to be. If your life is not what you truly want, you are the only one who can change it. You cannot blame it on anyone else. Other people can give you advice and help guide you, but ultimately the choice and the decision is yours. The choices you make create your destiny. Wishing that a BMW will appear in your driveway is not the same as waking up at 5 a.m. and working hard to get one there.

Apathy (also called impassivity or perfunctoriness) is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation and passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical or physical life. They may lack a sense of purpose or meaning in their life. The opposite of apathy is flow.^[1] In positive psychology, apathy is described as a result of the individual feeling they have much more than the level of skill required to confront a challenge. It may also be a result of perceiving no challenge at all.

This is the dictionary definition of apathy. Currently I believe apathy is a major problem in the United States, especially among the younger 18-34 generation. It is hard for someone such as myself, who is extremely passionate on many issues, to sit back and not have an opinion. I recognize not everything is motivated by news or politics. It doesn’t even upset me that people are not passionate about politics. I can realize that people have different interests.

Apathy about politics is fine. Apathy about everything frightens me. Stuck in a dead-end job? Don’t care. Unhappy in a relationship? That’s fine. This kind of behavior, stating that mediocrity is fine in one’s life scares me. People who have big dreams cannot be apathetic about their future. However, one could argue that apathetic people are rarely big dreamers. Is this the case? What if someone possesses a dream, get’s stuck on the road to success and then becomes apathetic.

I have several friends that say that their spouse is “okay.” Okay?! A spouse is “ok?” I know marriage is not cupcakes and roses everyday. But I hope, when I get married that my husband would respond with something better than “ok.”

This concerns me. Because as a nation America has never been one of apathetic people. What if the founding fathers had been apathetic? What if they had accepted their lives and the status-quo and hadn’t thought that there could be anything better? If everyone accepted things they way they are there would be no discussion and no ideas of how to change things and make them better. A world without opinions is a very boring world indeed. 

Perhaps this is a difficult concept for people who are apathetic to understand. Perhaps they are fine with their current situations and see no need to view the future or to change their current path. However, to someone who constantly thinks and plans for what “could be” and sees unlimited potential in themselves and the very talented and intelligent people they know, it is very hard to wake up daily and be “apathetic.”

Everyone knows that the magazine industry in the United States is huge. Even with the “eco-friendly” movement, people in the check-out are still mystified by the allure of the glossy pages of their favorite periodical. But what type of magazines are falling into peoples’ hands? Is the Economist flying off the shelves? Are people wanting to be educated, or simply entertained? While I’d like to image that every citizen is as concerned about global politics and the national debt as myself, I am afraid that is certainly not the truth of the matter. In fact, I would venture to say that most average Americans have no more concern for global politics than they would for a glass of spilled water.

I first became interested in the affect of magazines, especially beauty magazines and their affect on the psychological health of women when I began reading Naomi Wolf’s book, The Beauty Myth. Within her book, Wolf explores the various avenues for exploitation of women through beauty magazines.

Wolf begs the question, Who advertises in these magazines? Make-up companies? Diet plans? Weight-Loss supplements? What do all of these companies have in common? In order to make a profit they must, must remind women that they need these items to make themselves sexually attractive. If a diet company chose to advertise their supplement in a magazine, but everyone women reading it thought that they were already the perfect size and shape, who would buy the diet supplement? This would therefore put the diet supplement company out of business. Using this simple logic, it would only make sense that the magazine would publish articles increasing self-doubt and anxiety to women about their appearance. Right after reading an article about the “percentage of men who cheat”, they flip to the next page advertising a smaller, flatter stomach. “My husband would never leave me if I looked like Megan Fox.” (this is the thought) And then the path to the almighty dollar of the reader is formed.

What the reader should be thinking is, if my husband/boyfriend would be so shallow to cheat on me because I gained 5 pounds, why would I be with this loser anyway? How many women would cheat on their husbands if they gained 5 pounds? Very few, and I would venture to say, very few men would cheat on their wives for gaining 5 pounds- therefore this magazine has created fear, anxiety, and self-esteem issues all to sell a diet supplement.

When you break this down it makes perfect sense. The magazines must keep their readers in a constant sense of self-doubt so that they continue reading, to learn more, to buy more, and ultimately to keep the magazine in business. A magazine must have advertisers to stay in business, and with their continued following, they can preach their opinions and create a culture of “not-good-enough.”

I am not saying all magazines are bad news. But we as consumers know which ones scream out, “50 New Ways to Pleasure Your Man.” Really? Do I really need to know 50 new ways to pleasure a man? Or should I fill my time with forming strong opinions and educating myself on important and relevant topics so we can have an intelligent discussion on more than just the weather. If a man is attracted to your mind, he will always be attracted to your body. If he is only attracted to your body, then I’m sorry to say, I’m not sure he will ever be attracted to your mind. I’m not advocating that everyone should stop exercising and gain 50 pounds- there is a difference between general positive and healthy living versus extreme self-confidence issues and eating disorders.

So should we read to inform or to entertain? This is a broader question that has yet to be answered. However, I do believe women (people in general) should have more confidence in themselves and their own opinions and voices. People not allow themselves to be manipulated purely for an agenda.

(Source: http)

In a recent article by the PAIRS Foundation, an interesting question is posed. How much does money factor into relationships working? Does it matter if one partner makes significantly more money than the other? Does it matter whether the male or female makes more money? As the article sites, when a middle-aged woman makes over 100K she is more likely to be divorced than a man of similar income and age level.

Why is this the case? Is it because women are more likely to go through a mid-life crisis? Wasn’t it always the 50-something executive purchasing a Ferrari that was having a mid-life crisis? Perhaps, it isn’t a crisis at all. Maybe women have finally realized that you can be happy and independent. The fact that it doesn’t happen until mid-life could just be a sign of the times. The income level could also have a factor, if a woman earns $40K a year, she is likely to be more financially dependent on her husband, and also may still be putting her children through college- however, someone with a higher income may be less dependent on a spouse.

When asked, why are higher salaried women choosing divorce more than their male counterparts, the point could be argued- are men really more independent than women? When men are in their fifties working as an executive, making a good salary, why aren’t they too enticed by the single-life? Maybe they value a sense of stability- or we could examine that men have been leaving their wives for a “20-something” for generations.

It could be that men have felt independent since they were 18 years old leaving their parents house, starting out on their journey, while women may have only felt this true sense of independence once they have already raised their children, and climbed the corporate ladder. Now that their “duties” have been fulfilled they are free to explore other areas of life, travel, hobbies, and if they have the financial resources to do it on their own, that might be what they ultimately have been working towards.

Photo is from Anne Taintor’s Website

This is question is probably asked more than any other in today’s world of marketing and advertising.

So, really, what is the value? Are we really reaching anyone? Can a small-business that is suffering in this economy turn themselves around by using social-media? How should we determine ROI? Does it really matter? I believe the answer is, yes.

What has created the attraction to Social Media? It’s the connections. People thrive on communication at all levels. In today’s world, people check their phones constantly, awaiting that text or call or email from anyone. ANYONE. Does this interaction make people think they are included in a conversation? Perhaps.

Social Media works for business because it makes the consumer feel “included.” A consumer can “share” information with peers and promote a business or new idea for free. People love recommending restaurants, movies, anything to their friends. Social media is just a faster way of saying, “Here’s what I am doing.” This works as free advertising for any type of business.

Where the question still exists- what is my ROI? What is my return on investment? Where does it go? How do I track is this is working? Will we ever get answers to these questions?