Are there any set of universal standards for a good life? Can we all agree that a degree, job, and marriage might be part of them? As some of you may know, I dropped out of my Masters program two and half years in, never earning that degree. I recently got discharged from a company after climbing five positions in three years. And I have failed to find marriage quickly out of school.

Philosophical Engineering

In trying to sort out this pattern of not being able to follow the beaten path dictated by society that should have had me singing and dancing towards retirement, I’m instead trying to answer the label of a failure that is now above my head.

But failure is only dependent upon the way we define success. And success is defined only through being specific as to the standards for how we want to live our life. Do we work just to pay the bills in life? Do we work to support a family? Or do we work to build and leave a legacy?