How Different Groups Define Success

In Julian Shapiro’s piece, What to do with your life, he talks about how the people around you distort your own values. For example, generally speaking here’s what the following groups value:

• Entrepreneurs might think “making the most out of life” means having the biggest impact on the world and getting rich while doing it.
• Hustlers might think that “making the most out of life” means exploiting resources to gain as much wealth, power, and fame as they can.
• Academics might think that “making the most out of life” means researching and experimenting to surface insights and advance understanding.
• Artists and spiritualists might think that “making the most out of life” means fully expressing themselves and connecting with people or nature as profoundly as they can.

Back in University, my goal was to maximize impact and I saw entrepreneurship as the best way to do that. Many of my friends, who also happened to be interested in entrepreneurship, had similar goals. Eventually my values shifted from impact to expression which lead me to writing.