The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language gives the two meanings
- The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted.
- The gaining of fame or prosperity.
of which the first one is entirely void of comparison. Your biggest desire is to live in a nice house in the country side with a wife and two kids? If you achieved that, congratulations, you are successful!
If you're happy and have achieved your goals, you're successful. No external quantification or validation required.
You still need to compare your state with your desired state, but that's it.
Overcoming your own limitation is a much better form of success. At least there is a form of control that you have on it.
Is it necessary to excel to be successful and/or happy?
It is possible to be excellent at enjoying a simple life (most of us are terrible at it).
It is possible to enjoy being terrible at something because it's fun(ny) or reminds us of our youth.
Even the quote used:
> “Comparison is the thief of joy.” —Theodore Roosevelt
Isn't 'success' a form of comparison? How do you quantify success? Is it binary? Is it a validation from peers?
Do your own thing, be excellent at it, have fun.