“Have a Happy, Prosperous and Successful New Year 2015!” was something that many of us kept hearing and saying during the last days of 2014. But what do these pretty abstract concepts of happiness, prosperity and success actually mean to each one of us? Most likely pretty different things to different people. Still I imagine that most people on this planet associate only good and positive meanings with these concepts.

What happens in your mind when you hear the word success? Or prosperity? Or happiness? What is the mental image that is instantly being created in your brain then? For success, don’t we normally think of material benefits, accomplishment or a wealthy person with a fancy car, a gorgeous house and a huge bank account? For prosperity it is maybe good fortune, a flourishing or thriving condition (especially in financial respects) that first comes to our mind. But when we try to share our understanding of happiness, we most likely end up having a never-ending debate, because it is the most innermostly experienced one of these three concepts and therefore rather difficult to be defined.

Achievement means more to some people than to others. While some want to be successful at any price (and unfortunately sometimes at the expense of other people as well), others are contented by simply trying and giving their very best. The only way to make our achievements truly meaningful to ourselves is to have a personal definition of what success means to us and how we eventually measure it. If we only strive to succeed according to other people’s standards and expectations, it does not necessarily bring us a sense of personal accomplishment and might only leave us unhappy, unfulfilled and unsatisfied. We should always bear in mind that one of the most rewarding and motivating experiences we can have is when we work really hard and reach a goal that we have set for ourselves.

If somebody we know is successful at what he or she does, we will most certainly acknowledge that by congratulating them on their outstanding performance. At least this is what should happen, but there is the other side of the coin as well. Another person’s achievements may create envy in us and provoke us either to ignore their success or even worse to be mean and nasty to them. Normally this negative human reaction only gives a concrete proof that indeed the person considered successful has done something extremely well as the others have difficulties in accepting it.

I do not know for sure, so therefore I only keep wondering, whether or not these three concepts of happiness, prosperity and success are closely intertwined and thus one cannot exist without the others?! Or can each one of them perhaps be regarded as something individually self-standing allowing them to be achieved and enjoyed separately? Simply and shortly, to me personally success is a complex and multifaceted concept and it can be experienced in any area of life (professional, social, emotional, physical, …). In summary, I would describe prosperity as doing well in life in general, and happiness (=being well) involves both a short-term dimension of daily positive emotions as well as a more long-term global sense that life is worthwhile.