Success Happy

If YOU are so smart or talented... why are YOU not a big success?

I do realize that this question will get some dishonest responses and anger some people because it forces you to look in the mirror. I ask this question because I frequently see people (here and elsewhere) who have convinced themselves that they are far smarter than they obviously are and they study a bunch of crap that puts very little money in their pocket and they can barely pay their bills. If I were not extremely successful I would feel like a failure or that I need to stop deluding myself and perhaps start over or learn something new. Or do you perhaps think that those who do make it big and are obviously successful were just "lucky" and that you are still smarter or more talented than they but just haven't gotten lucky yet? I'm really curious as to what answer or excuses people have for this. (Now let me define "success" ...please spare me the bull about "feelings" or "happiness" we're talking $$$$$ and anything less than 6 figures a year does not equate to success. Net worth less than a million is not impressive ...unless you're extremely young.

Public Comments

1. success is what makes you happy
2. Talent, connections If my dad was a famous rockstar, maybe I would be on t.v making loads of money but since my dad is a truck driver I will prob be a ordaniary person. . . naybe thats not the case you have talent a skill, a personal appeal, its never about whats on the inside, you have ot be different you have to spark maybe you have that maybe you dont but YOU can never tell other people will figure it out
3. I am in the same boat. I now realize. I think I did some mistake. I should have taken proper guidance while selecting my mentor and friend's circle.
4. There are a lot of talented and intelligent people who don’t know where to direct it. If you’re so successful it’s likely because you knew how to direct your talents, and the way you value financial success as a worthy end in itself. I don’t mean to say that your money making goals are a bad thing or that you need to change your way of thinking, but a lot of us like to engage intellectual pursuits as their own rewards.
5. I'm personally not "successful" because I'm still in college. To answer your question more generally though, it's because not everyone who is smart or talented will have the same definition of success as you.
6. Compared to Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, I'm not successful. But when I look at where I came from, and how I've risen above the circumstances I was born into, I feel fabulously successful
7. I'm not that smart or talented, but the answer to your question for most people is simple lack of discipline, motivation or ambition.