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Originally Posted by Shamou  One of the reason that I started this thread is that I have seen in my practice an inordinate amount of people who had achieved most of their goals or objectives in life and yet were quite unhappy…
The main reason for that unhappiness was the fact that these people pursued goals thinking that achieving those goals would make them happy yet, it was far from being the case…
There is also the case of many celebrities who had achieved everything, prestige, fortunes, fame etc… yet committed suicide… they had it all… except personal happiness…
So, I thought that it would be helpful to have people determine exactly what they thought success was… and, I am very please to see that most members of this board see success as a state of mind rather than in material acquisition…
Congratulations to you guys… 
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The crucial ingredient that most people are missing is purpose. When we are young, our parents ask us what we want to be. We respond by saying we want to be a movie star, a fireman, a scientist -- some sort of job title. But no one ever stops to ask us to define the mission statement of our life.
Of course, when we are five years old, we don't have a mission statement. But most children are never even encouraged to think about it. We grow up thinking that the key to happiness is a job, a mortgage, and material possessions.
It is not.
My definition was "determination, purpose, and love." I know lots of determined people. And I know lots of loving people. But until one combines these two forces with a true sense of purpose, happiness may remain elusive.
The old saying that it is better to give than to receive has more meaning than many realize. And I'm not talking about generic charity. I'm talking about the giving of our purpose, our mission, to the world.