Isabella Riegg

Dr. Dorsey
MKTG 370-01: 12116
What is Success?
4/23/19
 Introduction
Success is setting goals and accomplishing things that an individual thinks are bigger

than themselves. Whether it be making yourself a hot meal, finishing a book or even getting out

of bed, in my eyes is successful. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs gives a framework that

establishes the underlying factors of human motivation, with the most fundamental needs at the

bottom of the pyramid. These 5 factors contribute to what we can accomplish in our life and

what’s left for us to accomplish. In recent years, I feel that the meaning of success has changed

to encompass all the different aspects of life. Personally, success is a more aware sense of self in

regards to appreciating the world around you, whether it be appreciating your current worldly

relationships or the world around you.

Isabella Riegg | 2
 Success is the prospering of the natural world and reframing an individual’s mind. No

matter what happens in the world, a person can rely on nature to put them back into a more

Isabella Riegg | 3
peaceful and mindful state of mind. For me, whenever I’m in a negative space, I do my

homework or read a book in my backyard and after an hour, I’m instantly in a better mood. The

ambience that lies within nature and can help get rid of the inner struggles that people are trying

to work through. Our lens and perspective in our everyday life is relatively small when we factor

in that there are over 7 billion living on this planet with drastically different cultures and

outlooks on life.

According to Solomon, a culture is a society’s personality that includes both abstract

ideas, such as values and ethics, and material objects and services, such as the automobiles,

clothing, food and art that is produced within a society (Solomon, 2016). There are those that

have follow an ideology to protect the natural world, such as Green Peace and PETA. Although

they are a bit extreme with their actions, their sole purpose is to protect all things associated with

the natural world, such as the lives of animals and the many biomes that are on this planet.

Organizations, such as Green Peace and PETA, rely on a negative affect of marketing in a sense

that in their campaigns they rely mainly on disgust and guilt through animal cruelty. Although

the campaigns are graphic, they are proven to be affective with what they are trying to achieve.

The key in their many campaigns is that they want involvement among their supporters and

partners. This conscious way of thinking of our planet is a part of a cultural movement and

contribute to our cultural selection with what is most relevant to us in our everyday life

(Solomon, 2016).

Isabella Riegg | 4
 Success is living a full and prosperous life through travel and life. With my dad being of

European descent and my mom being of Spanish descent, growing up was different for me than

most other people, especially with all of the cultural elements that he grew up with and taught me

and my siblings. On a 5 year basis, we still try to visit family overseas in Denmark and Germany,

which has contributed to me being successful from an individual perspective. Due to my ethnic

background, I find that I have a different perspective on the world due to my grandparents telling

me stories of where and how they grew up. By traveling to the towns that they grew up in, I have

a new sense of who they were before they became grandparents and how growing up in that

enviroment shaped them into who they are.

Isabella Riegg | 5
 Travel, in my understanding, can better shape a person’s individuality and change their

mindset in an instant. According to ​“5 Reasons Traveling Abroad Is Seriously Good for Your

Health” by Larry Alton​, it was reported that traveling is actually healthy, with women that

vacation at least twice a year show a significantly lower risk of suffering a heart attack than those

who only travel every six years, which is true for men as well (Alton, 2017).

When first deciding to do things out of the norm, our habitual decision making part of our

identity is turned off and we are thrown for a loop, since we are out of our comfort zone.

Although individuals are happy to be in that position, there is still a level of uncerntainty that

they are unsure of what the plan is and what they’re actually going to do that day. The article

also reported that people also experience a direct increase in happiness from just planning a trip,

with the anticipation of taking a vacation is far greater than the anticipation of acquiring a

physical possession. Although not everyone can experience the world around us, I feel that when

given the chance, it is a necessary part in becoming a well-rounded adult.

Isabella Riegg | 6
 Success is maintaining long friendships. According to Dr. Bonior from her article entitled

10 Ways to Make (and Keep) Friendships as an Adult​, ​“friend relationships, or lack of them can

largely determine our happiness” (Bonior, 2016). Being in long-term friendships helps

individuals develop the rhythm of their days and can even shape their goals and dreams by

encouraging them to be who they want to be. It’s common, especially in today’s world, that we

often are wanting to be perfect in our friendships that we sabotage ourselves with big grandiose

gestures when in reality the smallest of gestures add up to a lifelong true friendship (Bonior,

2016). The consistency of connecting, no matter how small it sometimes seems to be, can have a

lasting impact on your friendships.

Isabella Riegg | 7
 My friend and I share a bond in a sense that we come from the same subculture, Hispanic

Americans. We both share the same experience with not looking “Mexican” enough for the

purely Hispanic population that we encountered solely in our respected communities. Although

our family dynamics were different, we always knew that we were treated differently, especially

with us being female. Through our friendship, we have gone through times when we didn’t talk

and yet when we reconnect, it seems as though no time has passed and we pick up right where

we leave off. In my opinion, our dynamic and how we operate is a true testament of a

long-lasting and health friendship.

When we are first in elementary school, we experience the ​paradox of choice​ on a daily

basis with wanting to be friends with the kids that we thought were “cool,” for example, being

friends with Billy because he has the best lunchbox or Sara because she has the best pudding.

When we are at that age, we go through stages of information processing that is varied from

person to person with their own unique biases, needs, and experiences (Solomon 2016). As we

grow more mature, we are confronted with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’ third level of Social

Belonging. Bottom line is that we all, at some point, have an “innate desire to be respected, to be

appreciated and to feel important” (Seneca, 2018). According to Maslow, when we fully ascend

the 5-tiered pyramid, we will reach the full realization of an individual’s potential. This need

represents the desire to accomplish everything that one is able to and to become the most than

one can be.

Isabella Riegg | 8
 Success is sharing and building a life with someone else. According to the Men’s Journal,

men that are “married tend to live longer than those who never married or those whose marriages

ended” (Kubota, 2017). It is in our nature and anthropology to find a partner for that is similar to

our personality and values.

An individual’s personality goes through ebbs and flows of influencing who we are.

According to Neo-Freudian Karen Song, she described that people tend to move toward others

(​compliant)​, away from others (​detached)​, or against others (​aggressive).​ Usually, in a

relationship, they are constantly feeling a push toward others that they think are the most

Isabella Riegg | 9
compatible with who we are. By opening up to another person and being emotionally vulnerable,

it can have a “positive effect on psychological health through making people feel cared for and

listened to” (Kubota, 2017).

When putting oneself out there, individuals tend to evaluate their personality and values

to get a better idea on what we are looking for in a potential mate. My boyfriend and I were

originally best friends before we grew feeling for one another, although we are still best friends.

In my opinion, I think that a relationship is healthier when you start out as friends so that way

there isn’t any nonsense and you’ve already seen them at their worst. Being in a successful and

long-term relationship can be beneficial to individuals due to the affect it can have on our

identity and our ability to go through potential crises. The more experiences you’ve shared, the

more you learn what each other’s thinking biases are.

Isabella Riegg | 10
 Conclusion

I understand that success means different things to every person. For me, success isn’t

measured by what you have and how much money people make. It’s more about the little things

and what value we attribute to our relationships in life. Success is spending as much quality time

with every valuable person in your life as you can. Given our current political climate, it’s

important for individuals to find the bright side and put their attention on what is ahead.

Isabella Riegg | 11
 Works Cited

Alton, Larry. “5 Reasons Traveling Abroad Is Seriously Good for Your Health.” ​NBCNews.com​,

NBCUniversal News Group, 19 May 2017,

www.nbcnews.com/better/wellness/5-scientifically-proven-health-benefits-traveling-abro

ad-n759631​.

Bonior, Andrea. “10 Ways to Make (and Keep) Friendships as an Adult.” ​Psychology Today,​

Sussex Publishers, 25 May 2016,

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/friendship-20/201605/10-ways-make-and-keep-frien

dships-adult​.

“5 Ways to Find Peace in Nature.” ​Beliefnet,​ Beliefnet Beliefnet Is a Lifestyle Website Providing

Feature Editorial Content around the Topics of Inspiration, Spirituality, Health, Wellness,

Love and Family, News and Entertainment.,

www.beliefnet.com/wellness/galleries/5-ways-to-find-peace-in-nature.aspx?p=3​.

Isabella Riegg | 12
Kubota, Taylor. “10 Health Benefits of Being in a Relationship.” ​Men's Journal​, 29 Dec. 2017,

www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/10-health-benefits-of-being-in-a-relationship-2014

0904/longer-lifespan/​.

Seneca. “Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.” ​Guide to Purposeful Success,​ 8 Sept. 2018,

www.guidetopurposefulsuccess.com/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs/

Solomon, M. (24 January 2016). ​Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being.​ 12​th​ Ed.

London, UK: Pearson.

Isabella Riegg | 13