Contrary to what anyone will have you believe, success is more of a subjective phenomenon than it is an objective one. You get to decide what being “successful” means to you. You get to define success for yourself. In fact, it is imperative that you learn to define success for yourself. Because if you do not, you will spend your whole life trying to meet the standards that other people have set for you, and it goes without saying that there are plenty of those. We live in an insatiable world. Nothing you do will ever be enough. Which is why it is vital that you move by what “enough” is to you and not what it is to other people. The truth is you are under no obligation to live up to anyone’s standards save your own and God’s. You will not, however, know what those are until you consciously set out to establish them. Forget what they say you need to do, own, and possess. That matters very little. You and only you are the author of your story. You get to decide what a successful ending to it is. You get to set your own standards according to your desires, purpose and your capabilities. You get to decide for yourself what setting the bar too low or too high is. You get to set goals that other people will not understand, goals that people will deem too mediocre or completely ludicrous and unattainable. And in those moments, you get to decide whether what they have to say is of little matter or actually holds some water. And most importantly, you get to choose to celebrate all your wins, wins that are said to be “too small or to be meaningless” to be celebrated. You get to celebrate all of them because you get to choose what is big and what isn’t, what is worth celebrating and what isn’t. It's all you. You get to define success for your own damn self. You should. You must. Smile when they say you are too naïve and your dreams are unrealistic. Laugh when they say you are celebrating petty wins. This is your story. You have all creative control. Don’t let anyone tell you any different.