Five successful people tell news.com.au what success means to them and how they achieved it

WE asked five successful people to explain what success means to them. Their answers might just help you determine yours.

CareerOne chief executive Karen Lawson Picture: Supplied

WHAT does success mean to you? It is a difficult question to answer.

For some people, success is a well paying job, owning a home and being able to provide for a family. For others it is being recognised in their field.

We asked five successful people to explain what success means to them. Their answers might just help you determine yours.

KURT FEARNLEY, THREE-TIME AUSTRALIAN PARALYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST:

Kurt Fearnley with the love of his life, nine month old son Harry. Picture by Peter Lorimer.

Kurt Fearnley knows a struggle few of us will ever be able to understand.

He is a world champion and a three-time gold medallist but success has not come easy.

Born without the lower portion of his spine, Fearnley faced challenges able-bodies athletes did not. None of it stopped him.

Now, after feats including crawling the Great Wall of China and Papua New Guinea’s Kokoda Track and winning 35 marathons, the 33-year-old says he determines his success by how long he can stay at the top.

“I’ve never been asked,” he said. “It’s not just wins. It’s the ability to stay at my highest level of performance. Not just for a week or a year but over a long period of time. The hardest part is staying at the top.”

The success story for Fearnley would not be complete without mentioning his true love, son Harry.

TARYN BRUMFITT, AUTHOR OF EMBRACE:

Taryn Brumfitt had to overcome her own body image fears to help others.

Taryn’s success came with a single idea. While contemplating plastic surgery to attain “the perfect body” she thought: “If I go through this what am I saying to my daughter about body image?”

That message resonated with her and drove her to crowd fund a documentary about loving our bodies. She raised $331,000 and wrote Embrace. The response was equal to the single highest amount an individual has raised for a documentary in history.

So, after all that, what does success mean to her?

“Success to me is living the life that I have designed, doing the things that I want to, when I want to do them and always on my terms,” she said.

“How do I measure success? It’s rarely in a number but rather in a feeling.”

KEN SHADIE, SCREENWRITER OF CROCODILE DUNDEE:

Ken Shadie now.

Ken Shadie then.

He is less famous than his screenwriting counterpart Paul Hogan but don’t mistake the real genius behind the cult classic Crocodile Dundee.

Ken Shadie wrote the first draft of the 1986 hit on a typewriter from his quiet home in Sydney’s north more than 30 years ago. It took him to places he never imagined and turned an idea into a box office taking of $174 million in the US alone.

Mr Shadie, who now runs an RSL sub-branch in his spare time, said his success was driven by hard work.

“Success to me is about the respect of my peers but none of that would’ve happened without hard work,” he said.

“I don’t think you need to overanalyse it. If you’ve got talent, you just let it happen.”

KAREN LAWSON, CEO OF CAREER ONE:

Karen Lawson says her success is about other people.

She is a woman succeeding in a male-dominated industry. But Karen Lawson’s success is not about herself at all.

The CEO of Career One who took the company from struggling to break-even says she did so by focusing on other people.

“I’ve been around leaders a lot and know from experience that the definition of success changes,” she said.

“I think success is hollow with seeing other people succeed and helping other people succeed.”

RILEY WOLFF, GENERAL MANAGER OF RESCUE PROJECT AUSTRALIA:

His passion.

Riley and man’s best friend.

Success is simple for the GM of Rescue Project Australia — a small-but-growing charity re-homing and caring for neglected animals.

Riley Wolff says it’s about “making a difference” but that he succeeds every day by combining his two loves — dogs and cycling.

Mr Wolff helped design cycling kits to raise money for the charity shortly after launching it in Australia. Within nine months he has helped the “real heroes” at the shelters to raise more than $7000.

“To me, success is making a difference. We’re not the biggest charity and can’t help everyone, but we’re able to make a significant impact through the cycling community,” he said.

“The guys at the shelters are the heroes, and if my work makes their jobs a bit easier and that means more happy dogs being re-homed with loving families, it’s a pretty special feeling.”

Advice for others? He says “go and get it”.

“No one else will be as passionate about your project as you are — it’s up to you.”