The trick is to define "success" in such a way that it drives your happiness, rather than adopting external definitions of "success" that have no relationship w

The trick is to define "success" in such a way that it drives your happiness, rather than adopting external definitions of "success" that have no relationship with your own personal sense of self worth or life pleasure. "Money" won't likely drive your happiness. Not entirely. "Increasing shareholder value" also won't likely drive your happiness. But enjoying the camaraderie, or seeing your leadership improve peoples lives, or the sense of accomplishment that comes with setting and achieving goals... those things can lead to happiness. And a lot of times, you can achieve that kind of happiness even if you miss your quarterly numbers, or a startup hypothesis doesn't pan out. "Reading all the books by Author X." "Getting a Ph.D." "Coaching a little league team." "Completing project Y." "Publishing paper Z." "Taking a 2 month RV trip across europe." "Earning the respect of my spouse or partner." Money, shareholder value, "assets"... are only a means to certain kinds of ends.