How do you define success in life?

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If I think about it, I haven’t really had a solid definition of success for myself. I did have examples in my parents who raised me, and my siblings who grew up and went on their own. It seemed the signs of success included having a house, a car, a good job and being able to pay bills to afford it all and have fun sometimes.  Although I often aspired to all of that one day, the path for me has been very elusive.

After learning about John Glenn’s orbital mission and Neil Armstrong’s landing on the moon, I was interested in becoming an astronaut. Someone told me that I needed to be a pilot to be an astronaut, and I liked flying on airplanes so it still held my interest, until I needed glasses and later learned that pilots had to have 20/20 vision.

The career path was changed by seeing commercials for Control Data Institute. The offer was giving one the chance to become a computer programmer, operator, or computer technician. I started out trying to learn computer programming, but it didn’t seem to hold my interest. I saw a computer operator in action while watching a movie and learned that computer operators did not make much money. 

As I was considering becoming a computer technician, my father suggested focusing on becoming an electronics engineer. I hadn’t taken courses on the path to being an engineer until my senior year in high school, and as the program called for good grades in math and science, the goal seemed unattainable for me. Since then every effort I made to “succeed” led to different paths and required me to be flexible.

I attended a career seminar at a nearby college campus and decided on majoring in Communication. I was interested in broadcasting and later learning about radio and television production. As it seemed like I was interested in being in radio, and thinking I only wanted to be a disc jockey, I was advised to consider computer science and information systems, as it seemed I liked to work with computers. Studying computer programming was a bit more challenging than learning BASIC, and I found Turbo Pascal to be challenging and overwhelming. My focus later shifted to business but I really had trouble getting through accounting.

Later, after some time of coming up short in other fields, I had an opportunity to talk with a counselor who looked at my grades in college, and asked about what my interests were, and I was allowed to declare my major in Communication, with one condition – focus on public relations and advertising since it seemed more profitable. So in the last two years I had to complete my studies, I earned a bachelor’s degree in communication with the focus on public relations and advertising.

I started out trying to work in sales. One position sold advertising that was used in grocery stores to promote local businesses. I almost had one sale, but it bombed. I worked for a short time in telesales and that yielded me nothing. I worked as a sales associate in a department store, had some work during the holiday season, and went back to it after returning from training. After working for about 3 months straight on a full-time schedule, I became eligible for benefits, but resigned, seemed like it wasn’t working out for me.

I tried a fresh approach to sending resumes to make contact. One contact I made was with an advertising agency, and they were willing to take me on as an intern while I was working in fast food. The days were different kinds of busy, I worked the breakfast run at the restaurant, and then did my internship in the afternoon. Eventually, I got work as an administrative assistant with an adjacent company, and went back to work as an aerospace lecturer on the agency’s contract with NASA. In that position, I assisted in delivering educational programs at the Visitor Center, and learned so much more about the space program than I ever knew in school. 

After 3 years working full time and a contract change, I had my hours reduced to part-time and eventually started full-time work in customer service for a credit card distributor. I enjoyed the work as they had a fresh approach to customer service, and it seemed like there were opportunities for growth. After working a year and a half, and seeing the pressure on for more sales that led to the job ending, I had to care for my daughter for a time – she was two years old then – and eventually my career began with the federal government.

I started with the VA Medical Center for seven years, and then transitioned to my current position. I have another call site that I work with, and the first years were exciting, learning about tax law and dealing with balance due accounts, and then individual accounts. Now I work with tax-exempt organizations and governmental entities in the tax law area. It seemed like, after so much time, I was finally seeing some form of success.

Now I am looking at several tiers that may redefine success for me again. I earned a certificate in radio and television broadcasting from a trade school I attended as an adult, and possibly the oldest – if not one of the oldest students in my class. The time was special for me, and I had the opportunity to be an intern with a local radio legend while I was in the program. 

I almost could have landed an opportunity in broadcasting after graduation. I was close to having an interview for a position with a radio station. My manager was allowing me to use her office for the interview and then I could return to my desk and continue working. I tried to advise of what I could do to take on the interview, but it seemed like I was not understood well, or I had trouble clearly expressing what the game plan was.

I am trying to start a business in VoiceOver. I have recorded two audiobooks and I am looking at other areas of voiceover work to get into as well. I am also looking at getting into freelance copywriting, and I hear that is a more lucrative version of writing, much like what I studied in college. Somewhere along the way I hope to find something that can put me on a path towards success.

It seems I have achieved some success. I have a home that my father had before he died. I share the place with my current wife and our dog. The cost of living with its recent increases has made success harder to realize. Still, I am thankful for having been able to achieve some things so far, and I look forward to seeing what success may look like in the times to come. Hopefully we can all experience a measure of success that we all can be proud of or secure in by then.