Reflections · 4 min read

What is success? The circle of life

By Mike Fuhrmann, founder of Eternal Echo

At one, success means standing on your own two feet. At ninety, too. In between lies a whole life. I made a short film about it, using pictures from my own.

The circle of life: what success means at every age

"We spend our lives chasing success. Yet hardly anyone notices that its meaning keeps changing."

• 1 year: At one, success means standing on your own two feet. Even if the footsteps are still far too big.
• 2 years: At two, success means not wetting your pants.
• 5 years: At five, success means finding your way home.
• 12 years: At twelve, success means having friends.
• 16 years: At sixteen, success means feeling free.
• 18 years: At eighteen, success means having a driving licence. And the feeling that the world has suddenly grown bigger.
• 20 years: At twenty, success means having the courage to go your own way.
• 25 years: At twenty-five, success means mattering more to someone than to yourself.
• 30 years: At thirty, success means starting a family.
• 35 years: At thirty-five, success means earning money.
• 45 years: At forty-five, success means realising what really matters.
• 50 years: At fifty, success means helping others along their way.
• 60 years: At sixty, success means understanding that happiness lives in the small things.
• 70 years: At seventy, success means sharing memories.
• 80 years: At eighty, success means keeping your independence.
• 85 years: At eighty-five, success means finding your way home.
• 87 years: At eighty-seven, success means not wetting your pants.
• 90 years: At ninety, success means standing on your own two feet.

"Maybe success doesn't change over a lifetime at all. Maybe we simply return to what mattered at the very beginning."

Why I made this film

I grew up in Saarland, Germany, very close to my grandparents. I spent two years as an entertainer on Ibiza, then studied in Worms and ended up in marketing, most recently as CMO of Generali Switzerland for five years. For a long time, success meant moving up: more responsibility, more achievement. I know the line about thirty-five well.

Then came the line about forty-five. When my wife Ety fell seriously ill, what mattered shifted. She came through it and wrote a book about it. I quit my job and founded Eternal Echo, because I realised that in the end it isn't the title on your business card that counts, but what you pass on.

At my grandparents' funeral, their lives were read out like a CV. Dates, stations, jobs. Who they really were, what success meant to them, nobody told. Because nobody had ever asked.

Your parents' milestones

Everyone has their own circle of life. You may know your parents' and grandparents' milestones as dates: wedding, first child, moving house, retirement. But do you know what those moments meant to them? And what success means to them today?

Five questions to start with:

1. What does success mean to you personally?
2. Which decision sent your life in a completely new direction?
3. When did you first feel grown up?
4. What is the most important thing you have learned about love?
5. What are the three most important lessons of your life?

You'll find all one hundred in our guide 100 questions to ask your parents and grandparents.

At seventy, the film says, success means sharing memories. Maybe that's the most beautiful gift we can give our parents: someone who listens.

← All articles