Definitions of success are partly inherited from family, peers, institutions, and markets. Inheritance does not make a goal false, and choosing it does not make a person a renter.
A narrative audit can still clarify what belongs:
- Name a goal and the value you expect it to create.
- Ask whether you would still want it without public recognition.
- Identify who benefits, who bears the cost, and what obligation already exists.
- Choose measures that reflect the life and work you actually value.
- Revisit the definition when experience changes it.
Agency matters, but it is not the only measure of success. Money, time, health, family, service, craft, and belonging can matter together. The task is not to delete every inherited story. It is to examine and choose with honesty.
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