Essays About Success: Top 5 Examples Plus 8 Prompts

Are you writing essays about success? Discover our guide that will help you succeed with essay examples about success and writing prompts.

Success is the achievement of a goal and can be achieved in the short, medium, or long term. Success does not come easily and often takes a great deal of hard work and commitment to achieving your dreams. However, some people walk a smoother path to success than others due to contacts, resources, and financial support.

While we all have different recipes for success, there are common ingredients that effectively support us in our pathway to success. Among them are discipline, patience, perseverance, and consistently followed strategy.

Read on below to see our pick of essay examples and prompts about success.

5 Essay Examples

1.  Crypto’s Success Proves It Doesn’t Need Consumer Trust by Charlotte Principato

“… [O]n top of playing their role in keeping financial assets safe, institutions will also need to provide customers with access to a broad array of cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance products, as well as control over when and how they use them and greater transparency into how assets move.”

Crypto’s success is puzzling many over the influence — or lack thereof — of trust in the current generation of investors. But there is more to learn in today’s most untrusted but booming digital asset. And the lesson is for financial institutions to embrace crypto innovation while marrying this with their business principles on consumer confidence and safety.

2. China’s Success In Fighting Poverty Offers Lesson For All by Alessandro Golombiewski Teixeira

“China’s poverty reduction strategy is worthy of reference for the majority of developing countries. In the process of poverty reduction, the Chinese government has had a clear overall plan and strategic direction. It has insisted that economic and social development go hand in hand.”

This essay weaves a remarkable story from the data on China’s drastic poverty alleviation. It is a story of progress that developing, and least-developed countries could turn to for inspiration in crafting anti-poverty policies and strategies. You can also check out these essays about business.

3. The Story Of The First Sherpa To Climb To The Top Of Mt. Everest by Christopher Rand

“Over the years, the try at the ascent was a test promoted largely by men who believed in white superiority. In the end, Tenzing, a nonwhite, passed it. Inevitably, this made him a hero to Indian nationalists. Tenzing is a Cinderella who has shown them that they, too, can be belles.”

The historic success of mankind in reaching the summit of Everest happened in the 1950s. Sadly it was little known that two men achieved this feat: one was British mountaineer Edmund Hillary and the other the Nepalese ​​Tenzing Norkay. Norkay succeeds in raking in a “decent” income following the expedition, but his achievement is shadowed by the knighted Hillary. 

4. Ukrainian Success Will Not Be Catastrophic by Kori Schake

“Ukrainians believe they are fighting for the fundamental values of a free society: human dignity, political liberty, national security. Those beliefs have electrified the society, which is engaged in impressive civic activism in support of the defense effort—something that will be studied by Western countries as mastery of 21st-century warfare.”

The counteroffensives of Ukraine have been successfully pushing Russian troops to retreat, exposing the decay in Russia’s military prowess and directing the world’s attention to its warfare tactics. While shrouded in grief over the loss of numerous civilian lives, Ukraine presses forward bolder and, in the process, wins overwhelming international support for the country to succeed against Putin’s Russia. 

5. The Story Behind Tesla’s Success by Amy Wu

“Tesla’s release positioned it as one of the few successful independent automakers and a pioneer in the electric car market… When the Model S premiered in 2013, Tesla made headlines… The electric plug-in car received a near-perfect score of 99 out of 100 from Consumer Reports, which also named it as ‘the best car ever tested.'”

The essay tracked the beginnings of Tesla as a startup up to its success today as a $900 billion company. It looks holistically at its current operations, technology development strategies, and global expansion. Through the lens of analysts, it also gives readers a glimpse into the future of Tesla, which is projected to rake in almost 30% of the global electric car sales by 2030. 

8 Topic Prompts On Essays About Success

1. Academic Success

Some would define academic success as acing an exam, while for others, it’s about making it to the top of the class. We measure academic success mainly depending on what standard we aim to live up to and what we think is the best learning journey and pace. For this essay, talk about your barometers for academic success. Then, share your studying techniques and learning strategies for reaching new academic heights.

2. How to Succeed in Life

Over the years, there has been a lot of pressure for people to achieve significant life milestones faster, causing burnout and mental health disorders in a large population. Do you agree that pushing yourself to the limits is the right way to succeed in life? Your essay may take off from these questions, or you can provide your take on how to lead a successful life.

3. Success Vs. Happiness

The road to success is beset with many impediments that could bring people down emotionally and mentally. For this essay, differentiate between success and happiness and determine which one is better to pursue. Back up your essay with research and real-life stories. 

For example, if you choose happiness over success, you may cite studies showing how successful people are more prone to mental health instabilities. You may also turn your essay into a feature-like write-up by integrating stories of people who have climbed to the top of the corporate ladder only to fall into depression. 

4. Poems with The Theme of Success

Be creative and turn your essay into a literary analysis. There is a wide array of poems about success at your disposal. One example and the most popular to date is Emily Dickinson’s “Success is Counted Sweetest.” You can dissect the poem line per line. Then, try to interpret the meanings beneath the metaphors and other figures of speech. Finally, articulate how the poem relates to the general aspects of life. 

5. Self-Made Billionaires: Are They Real? 

Debates have been brewing over describing billionaires as “self-made,” with critics arguing there is never such a thing as some even derived capital through inheritance. So for this essay, first lay down the definitions and criteria of what makes a self-made billionaire. Next, delve into the lives of those labeled as self-made billionaires and determine if their conditions meet the criteria enumerated. 

6. How Childhood Experiences Can Affect Success

The field of psychology abounds in research studies that link factors from childhood to success or failure in one’s adult life. First, find research studies that interest you or could even relate to your life story. You could also cite others’ experiences as examples that agree with the research. Then, based on your chosen study, suggest how government, schools, and families can reform childhood practices to lead children to a better future. 

7. Why Exercise is Vital to Success

Write about the scientific processes that happen to your body when you exercise and what these do in increasing your thinking capacity, energy, and focus, among others. Then, cite people you consider successful and write about their exercise routines. Finally, write about your exercise routine or plans to add exercise to your daily habit. You can also suggest programs for schools to encourage regular exercise among their students better 

8. Is IQ the Best Indicator of Success?

Some psychometric experts believe that the intelligence quotient is the best determinant of success, while others think it is but one. For your essay, write about where you stand on this divergence.

But first, walk your readers through the current debates on IQ. Then, support your opinion with the latest research correlating IQ with other factors such as social behavior and economic development. Also, add what experts have to say for additional support to your argument.

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But if writing essays is not your cup of tea, you can always write a simple five-paragraph essay.