A colleague recently posted a LinkedIn poll asking people to choose the version of success that felt closest to their experience: happiness, impact, growth, or financial outcome. Nearly two hundred people responded.

The poll was casual and likely not representative of the general population. Still, the responses reflected a complex mix of psychological, developmental, and cultural factors.

People reveal their internal world through the version of success they choose. They show how they handle pressure. They show what their life stage demands. They show which cultural messages shaped them. Definitions of success are never random. They are learned, reinforced, and revised across a lifetime.

The poll identified four clear clusters:

In my view, this distribution tells a clear story. These choices are not random. They reflect how individuals experience work, power, identity, and pressure.

The people most likely to choose happiness often work in environments defined by constant mental strain. Their days likely involve troubleshooting, quick decisions, and nonstop complexity.

Research shows that sustained cognitive load heightens physiological

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