Gre analytical Writing issue essay Topic 101

GRE Analytical Writing ISSUE Essay Topic - 198 
"Society's external rewards are no measure of true success. True success can be measured only in 
relation to the goals one sets for oneself." 
GRE AWA Analytical Writing ISSUE Essay Sample 
Solution - 198 
Most people start planning their future from their school days. They set an aim in life and 
struggle hard to achieve that aim. Such people can be considered to be successful if they are able 
to even get close to the goals that they had set for themselves. Society's external rewards 
probably have no bearing on either their happiness or their definition of success. Therefore, 
success can be measured only on a personal level and it is further dependent on the goals that one 
has set for oneself. 
Society may choose to give due recognition to people who have excelled in their respective 
fields, but this does not mean that people who are not appreciated by the society have not been 
successful in their ventures. A new motion picture's director may have directed a film that falls in 
the category of off-beat cinema. He may have experimented with addressing certain 
controversial issues in his movie. Therefore, his movie may bomb at the box-office and he may 
not win any popular movie awards. However, the director may consider himself successful 
because he would have succeeded in conveying a message to the masses though the medium of 
his movie. Additionally, it is likely that his movie earns good critical reviews and probably that 
is what matters the most to the director. Moreover, the young director may be noticed and be 
appointed for directing movies under certain prestigious banners and probably this was the goal 
that the director had set for himself. Therefore, despite directing a film that neither earned any 
awards nor raked in high profits, the director may consider himself as successful because he 
succeeded in achieving the aim that he had set for himself. This aim might be quite different 
from what society has deemed necessary for a director's success. Therefore, if the director is 
happy and satisfied with his work and he feels that he has attained his goal, then that is success 
for him. 
There are thousands of scientists and researchers who have spent years in their research related 
work. All of them cannot be awarded the Nobel Prize. Does this mean that all these scientists 
have been unsuccessful in their endeavors? The research and development departments of a 
number of business establishments succeed in developing new products based on the latest 
technology. If no one outside the company knows about their contributions, does it imply that 
these researchers are not successful? Success is largely attributed to personal satisfaction which 
comes as a result of attaining one's goals. 
There may be people who are not satisfied with whatever they have achieved. This is because 
they may have set a very high goal for themselves. An area sales manager of a company may feel 
that he has not succeeded in his career unless he becomes the General Manager (sales) of the 

---

company. On the other hand, consider a person who comes from a humble background. If he 
succeeds in getting a job that improves the standard of living for his family, then he is truly 
successful even if the society does not term that particular job as a measure of success in one's 
career. He may be quite low in the company's hierarchy, but if his aim was to bring about a 
radical change in the living conditions of his family, then he would consider himself to have 
attained success. 
In view of the above, it can be seen that more than the standards set by society or the rewards 
given by society, it is the individual goals set by people that are a measure of the success 
achieved by them. Success can be measured by gauging the level from where you started and 
your present position with respect to the goal that you have set for yourself. Society's rewards do 
little to measure the success attained by individuals. 

---