I think people's definitions of success change as you go through life, and I think that's what I'm going through right now. I think six months ago, my definition of success would have included a townhouse in downtown Kansas City, a brand new SUV and being able to take a trip to wherever. Now I think it's changing for me. Now I'm beginning to think success is just being happy. I'm starting to focus less on material things and more on my well-being.

I guess you don't have to go into work day-in and day-out. And, yeah you can have a nice car and nice house, but at the end of the day what does all that mean? If you're not incredibly happy with who you are and what you're doing, what does all of that material stuff mean? One of my roommates took about a $15,000 cut in pay so that he could travel more and he doesn't have the stress that he had at his old job.

Currently I'm looking at my options. I'm taking a look at grad school. I'm taking a look at furthering my career here. I've thought about opening my own business. I think if you don't constantly evaluate your definition of success and your goals, then you're not growing. And if your not growing, what do you have and where will you end up? For someone to be truly successful, it's a matter of taking a look at where you are and where you want to be and redefining periodically how you are going to get there.

I have friends who are buying houses, getting their MBA, traveling through Europe. So I guess all of those things have an external influence on my vision and perception of success and where I should be in life. All of these things have an influence.

I think a lot of people in Generation X are reevaluating what they want to do. And people seem to be moving away from the traditional 9 to 5, work for a big company, house in the suburbs lifestyle. It's now more a desire for quality of life, doing what I want to do not because I need to achieve a comfort level to please someone else. You have to live without regrets. Take action and don't look back with regret.