Demystify Culture

Demystify Culture

Share this post

Demystify Culture
Demystify Culture
Success Is Not What You Gain but What You Leave Behind
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

Success Is Not What You Gain but What You Leave Behind

Our definition of success is falling to pieces

Gustavo Razzetti's avatar
Gustavo Razzetti
Jan 22, 2018
∙ Paid

Share this post

Demystify Culture
Demystify Culture
Success Is Not What You Gain but What You Leave Behind
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Share

Our definition of success is falling to pieces.

Our definition of success is falling to pieces. Photo by Mary Cata Linic

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved on stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.”

― Pericles

My grandfather didn’t achieve success as a doctor. That’s why I admired him so much.

He didn’t meet the measure of success for today’s society: getting or achieving wealth, fame or power.

My grandfather neither made millions as an ophthalmologist, nor he became number one in his discipline. But he was respected and revered by his patients, family, and friends.

My grandfather was successful according to his own standards.

That’s the most important lesson he taught me. Everything I achieved as a person or as professional was driven by my own measure of success. Not someone else’s.

If you don’t know where you want to get, it doesn’t matter which way you take. Or which advice you follow for that matter. That’s the problem with success “how-to listicle.” They…

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Demystify Culture to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Gustavo Razzetti
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More