I'd say it's a fairly impossible question to answer because every person has their own internal definition of "success".

Speaking, however, from a metaphysical perspective, if it is true that we project ourselves into physical reality for the experience of it then a successful life (from the viewpoint of one's Broader Self) could be defined as one with plenty of varied physical experiences.

But since one's Physical Self also makes up the other part of You (though, in reality, it is not a separate entity from Broader Self), it would seem unfair for the Broader Self to get what it wants at the expense of the Physical Self.

So perhaps a better definition of a successful life would be plenty of joyful physical experiences...so the Physical Self gets to have some good stuff too :)

He who can say at the end of his life that he lived a successful life is the one who followed his hearth.

Success is having courage to do what your heart tells you.

It is not a destination. It is a proccess that never ends. It is a journey of YOU. Simple.

That is a success for me.

to answer your question success is in the eye of the beholder, some see success as material thing and outside things., some other see success as something inside spiritual and success only on the outside as something that is vain. they are growing in their understanding as long as they are happy about the choice they make to their own level of understanding and seek to improve them self. why make comparison? to make some of them not happy? to make them open their eye on what they do not want to see, what as not touched their mind. for some they will find it helpful and for some that level is out of their reach for the moment and they do not want to see it and it will probably not make them happy. so let them progress at their own level. some are intoxicated and not thirsty, some are thirsty, some have started to drink water, some have started to see the light, some the water and the light became one, some went above, and some came back down for a little while. and each on their how level have been successful in something in their own eye and will continue to improve them self and it is ok.

Let there be light, be the light that you can be, experience and enjoy.

successful from what vantage
point, outside or inside.
has the envisioned plan for
this lifetime occurred

Hi Inner Beauty :) What a beauty of a nickname you have :)

Your question reminded me of the sweet movie I recently watched, The Shift from Ambition to Meaning, I highly recommend it to you, I think it contains the basis of how and why people judge about their success.

It starts with what we associate ourselves with: with what we have, with what we do, with what we achieve, etc.

The thing I severely disagree with Wayne on, is his "it's always about serving": for me it's always about pleasure.

I'd agree with AH that say that success is purely the amount of joy that you have. I wouldn't say, joyful physical experiences, as this is still forcing it and trying to get it outside, for me. And joy is absolutely available in every moment, you Inner Beauty should know :)

But (or as Bashar says, AND) I want to go deeper and suggest a question for you - why is it important to you, what is said about your life, if it is successful?

Maybe it's related to that Ambition to Meaning shift as well. When you're purely happy, do you care to be successful? When you're in the Vortex, what is the answer you see then?

I love you ♥ :)

P.S. By the way write to me (it removes email address, so maybe from contact form here), I do have some chapters to share with you :)

A successful life is a happy life. Why do people make compete with others to be "right" or "better" anyway? They believe that doing so will bring happiness.

It's better to be "happy", than to be arguing of fighting to be "right".

I'd say that success is merely a state of mind.

To quote Mandino, "Which two, among a thousand of wise men will define success in the same words; yet failure is always described in one way. Failure is man's inability reach his goals in life, whatever they may be.

I like this quote: "Success? I don't know what that word means. I'm happy. But success, that goes back to what in somebody's eyes success means. For me, success is inner peace. That's a good day for me." Denzel Washington

If we are given only one life, then success would be very important. But what if we live many lives? Then success is perhaps not as important as it may seem. What would matter then is if we learn to be at peace within ourselves, doing what gives us inner peace, inner joy. Why would this be so? Because just living for success means doing what society deems "successful". But one can be "successful" and be miserable. Achieving peace within ourselves has nothing at all to do with what others think. I spent the greater part of my early life trying to be successful. I was miserable because I only cared what others thought about what I was doing with my life. Now, I am feeling much happier because I have given the idea of success a back seat to inner peace. Since I have done that, I have been much happier. Now I care more about how others are doing, and if they are happy. I cannot have inner peace if I ignore the plight of others. For example, I cannot feel peace if Wade is feeling bad. I find myself trying to help him. In doing that, I find that I am much more at peace with myself. I now could care less if others think I am living successfully. I just try to stick to my own backyard. I wasted a lot of time chasing success. I leave that to others.

My world is small, and I now feel peaceful. I love the feeling.

Blessings,

Jaianniah