Does the amount of money you have determine your level of success in life?
No.
But it's often the possessions you have through which others perceive your level of success.
You decide for yourself what "successful" means. And if requiring other people to believe that you are successful is part of your definition of success, that's your choice.
About 5 years ago, I decided that I was successful. But on what premise? At the time, I was 20, I was broke, I had just dropped out of college, I didn't know what I was doing, I didn't have any real world skills or experience, I just knew I didn't want to be following the path that everyone else was on (college --> job --> family --> die old).
I decided that I was successful as long as:
I had a healthy/positive influence in the lives around me -- I didn't want to have a destructive effect
I was doing things because I decided to, not because some BS reason that someone told me ("you should xyz, abc, 123 just because I said so!")
I continued to learn from my mistakes and from those around me
Money has never been a factor and never will be a factor in terms of my personal definition of success.
This isn't to say that I don't want money, nor am I discounting its utility in the world we live in, I'm simply saying my networth has no grid on my self-worth or whether I believe I am successful or not.
Millionaire or not, I believe I am already successful. You can be too!
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