This question comes via Quora.com and Martin has a link at the bottom to the entire post/response (partially posted here).
In this episode Martin reads his response and adds a little color along the way shares his experience teaching "Success Skills" for C.L.A.S.S. Corporate Leaders Advocating Success Skills (volunteer instructor for Junior Achievement) at some of San Diego's more impoverished neighborhoods.
Martin changes the definition of "success" as provided by the curriculum and teaches a slightly different definition. Then he shares some thoughts about just what the OPPOSITE of success might be if it isn't failure.
MG's answer on quora.com:
I really like this question. From my experience I've found "success" to be a very enigmatic concept/subject which I'm sure explains why so many of us struggle with it. The SHORT ANSWER to your question: It is going to be difficult if not impossible, (as evidenced by your question) to find success without a desireable destination, target or goal. So, do you have any feel for What your ideal future looks like? Simply reverse engineer any great "success" and you will notice they know at the very least or, knew what their target was/what they were going after. That doesn't mean they hit it, it just means they had a direction to aim for (fostering positive action and habits). Prolonged aimlessness can be very problematic. Try this: Ask 10 people if they want to be a "success". My guess is all 10 will say "YES". Then, ask those same 10 people to DEFINE what "success" means to them...
Direct link to the rest of Martin's answer on
S02-Frequently Asked Friday 11: What is success if you don't know your main goal in life?