Success

[ScooBySnaCk]

The key ingredient is a positive outlook and belief in self.
Win or lose you always win.

 

[Rancher Dan]

If there was one prime ingredient to success, what do you think it is? Is it drive, determination, tenacity...a combination of many things...or something completely different?

My grandfather, who was the smartest, toughest, most competent person I've ever known, said on more than one occassion that sucess is a combination of talent, timing, and luck.

 

[XY...]

If you're referring to financial success, then intelligence/talent/determination/timing/parents are each determining factors imo.

If you're referring to success in terms of happiness, then it's all about your personal ideology.

 

[Rancher Dan]

is it that most people you see who are 'successful' usually have some really major excess in their lives.

Lots of people have wondered at that. I once saw an interview with Johnny Carson's announcer Ed McMahon where he noted that people that were larger than life also tended to have larger than life appetites for food, drink, and sex.

I see a couple of different possibilities. First the people who are really driven can be that way because of some itch that they can't scratch. They'll try to meet that need by over-indulging different pleasures, as well as their careers.

I have also seen a couple of people that were extravagantly talented in one area, but nearly retarded in another. For example I kndw a (now former) millionaire computer science genius who ended up marrying a stripper. Bad, bad decision.