The Washington Post has a brief video of Paul Reed Smith, renowned guitar maker, and his desciption of success.  From the interview several points stand out and are worth repeating.  In order to achieve success, one must first have a decent dose of courage.  Smith's advice was, in the face of fear, to do it anyway; this is courage.  Smith also advises that for success to be reached there must exist a love or passion for that particular endeavor.  Without love or passion, the efforts will prove to be too daunting, too demanding, or too unworthy.  Following quickly on the heels of love, there must also be drive or determination.  In the face of discouraging statistics or circumstances, there must be a determination to excell, to achieve, to arrive.  Okay, now this one is the most important.  In order to achieve true success, one must not continually define success by someone else's standards.  Who determines what is success for you?  If you are stellar school teacher, your success will be defined differently than an investment banker.  The last bit of advice that I gleened from this guitar maker, was to continue to improve.  Do better this year than you did last.  Don't settle for your own status quo but continue to improve.