To me, it's achieving your potential without compromising your happiness.
I don't believe in sacrifices to achieve any form of success.
You only have one life and if you make any sacrifice, you always lose in my opinion.
And if you can't do that, you're aiming too high and you shouldn't.
I saddens me when I see so many young people sacrifice their youth, their health, their happiness, their love life just to achieve some kind of professional or artistic success for example.
The truth is that, most of these people are going to miserably fail anyway. I know that it is not something our narcissistic generation wants to hear but that's just how it is.
For one that "makes it", 99 will have just wasted their youth chasing the impossible. And even if they make it, they will have lost so much by then.
Like this guy at my workplace who works 72 hours a week (for the same salary as mine), can never see his girlfriend, is always on the brink of burning out. But if you listen to him, it's totally worth and one day, he's going to make it big in the company!"
And I'm just there next to him with no ambition as they say, enjoying my life, travelling, spending time with my girlfriend, my friends, living my youth.
To each their own, but even now, I already know I'll have no regrets when I look back. Except for that "bald with boobs" period, but even then, great moments rotting and playing video games.
There are no miracles in life, being successful also has a price.