Re: Being Successful

That's right. It's not all about how much money you've got.

Re: Being Successful

Oh let's be honest here...ok happiness is not about material wealth but it does mean you can be miserable in comfort.

Actually I'm suspect of anyone who professes to be totally happy....in fact is there such a thing? If you got to the place you thought would bring you total happiness....what about that next place?

Re: Being Successful

It's the work ethic see, the proposition seems to be, if you work hard, you don't have to work for a fair portion of a life, this would suggest, hard workers don't like work.

In fact, they prefer Faffing about.

Re: Being Successful

I've been fairly successful ..but also successfully mucked parts of my life right up.

Re: Being Successful

It's sad that anyone should feel not successful ... in there own little existence. Maybe they're over ambitious.

Re: Being Successful

I don't class myself as successful in my working life but that's my own fault as I be never been an ambitious person. Mind you I have found myself over the last couple of years wishing I had gone to uni to train as a graphic designer, I enjoy making graphics and think with training I could have been good.

I feel successful in my personal life as I have a good, strong marriage and a lot of friends.

Re: Being Successful

Depends what you consider success is, I have a job I love, work with people I really like, I have a great family we all love each other and support each other. I may be earning NMW but so what rest of my life is what really counts. Does anyone actually die thinking wish I earned more money in my life time ?

Re: Being Successful

What is interesting is some folks, in the public sector for instance, who five years ago would have thought they were on a mediocre average wage rate, now after 5 years of pay freezes etc, find the NMW has caught up with them.

Re: Being Successful

That's happened in the private sector too spitty, my wage has done this and now goes up with the NMW increases. Before it was stuck for nearly 10 years.

Re: Being Successful

Being successful does not necessarily mean succeeding at everything. At school I was rather left out, teachers tended to concentrate their efforts on those pupils who were really bright. As a result I left school without any examination results to my name.

However, I then served a six-year apprenticeship which I completed at the age of 21 with a good basic knowledge of my trade of printing. Changing jobs was required to gain experience in various different parts of the trade. Eventually I had experience in printing, advertising and graphic design. The recession of the late 1980s saw me out of work for some while, other than taking any freelance work that came along.

Prospects were still not looking good as I could not get work so I started my own small business. That gave me enough to live on, pay my way and continue buying a property. Aged 60 I semi-retired and then at the age of 70, having kept up with new technology, I fully retired.

I may not have done too well at school, having a trade though gave me almost unbroken work for 55 years and a good standard of living. All that was thanks to my parents, who supported me while an apprentice, plus my own later efforts. I reckon that is a good example to all who nowadays chase those exam results and ‘pieces of paper’ as if they are the ‘be all and end all’ for an interesting and successful working life.