If you would like to have the Quest-4 team give a presentation or host a group discussion on the topic of success, send an e-mail to pathfinder@quest-4.com and we'll do our best to arrange it as we pass through your city.

Discussion in Texas

While in Houston the Quest-4 team had the opportunity to lead a group discussion with Texas high school students to get their opinions about the elements of success and personal fulfillment. The group, moderated by the Quest-4 team, had a great discussion about success, careers, and the influences on the younger generation.

The Group

In high school students in attendance that evening were:

Dave Chesser (17)
Rachel Seifert (17)
Frieda Sellman (17)
Bria Lanzara (16)
Maria Esselborn (16)
Sarah Wells (15)
Dan Westcott (18)
Josh Crescenzi (16)
Erin Rodrigs (17)
Russell Benke (17)

Discussion Excerpts

Here are a few of the insights from the evening of discussion:

Success Is

"Success is a goal that you can accomplish, but I also see it as the lives you can impact. That's the way I'll measure it, by the number of people I can influence."

"Having a passion for something and sticking by it and sharing it with others."

"Success is achieving something you can be proud of. You can go and tell someone what you did and not be ashamed."

"For me personal success is whatever makes me happy and makes me a better person and Christian"

"I see it as doing the best that you can."

"Success is not perfection, but something you strive for. You know you can't be perfect all the time, but it's something you can strive for."

"Success comes down to being able to provide for yourself."

"I think success is more of a long term thing. It comes over time. You have to go through a lot of obstacles to reach success and it takes time to reach it. I think you have to strive for it."

"I think success is finding complete inner peace and being satisfied with who you are and what you've accomplished and how you live."

"You might look at someone who looks successful, but are they really if they're not happy?"

"I think success has to be a combination of emotional success, as well as achievement. You can be successful at business and have no personal life and that's not really success in my view."

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"I'd rather have barely any money and be happy with who I'm with and what I've done -- people and relationships, rather than money."

"I feel pressure from my parents to get a good, well paying job."

"Our teachers say we have to get good jobs to pay for their social security [laughs]"

"I think it depends on the group you hang out with what your values and goals are, but the money thing is out there in any age group."

"I almost think that when you don't have money you really want it, but then when you have it you start asking what's next."

"I think everyone sees things they like and they dream about one day being able to buy it. I think we'd be lying if we told you that money wasn't important and that we didn't care about it, but it's being caught up in it that's the problem."

"The way our society measures success is how big your house is and what car you drive. You look at here versus some south Houston projects and most people would say that this area is more successful. We don't look at who's happy. You don't look at character."

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"I think you have to be open minded to a certain extent. You have to do things that you don't want to do sometimes."

"You can't give in. Persistence is key. Keep trying."

"To know the things that are really important in life is a key success characteristic and to have your priorities straight."

"You always hear that when you want to be a good athlete or whatever, you need to set goals."

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"I'm completely picking my college based on where I want to be. I want one of the best schools in the field I want to study so when I come out, I'll have a good job."

"I've always been taught to go to the best college you can go to to get the best job, but there's this missionary work that I want to do that I'll get paid crap at so I have this conflict."

"I want to go to a college that people have heard of and one that will give me a chance to learn enough to have an effect on other people's lives."

"I think there's a difference for girls and guys. I don't mean to sound old fashioned or anything, but society still to a large extent expects men to be able to support a family. Girls can sometimes have the opportunity to get an education and then just be a wife. They may work or not, but they have that choice, whereas guys don't have that option. "

"Society has changed so much, that I don't know how it's possible to make it without college. There's still so much to learn. High school is not the end."

"I'm considering taking a year off after high school before going to college. I'd like to travel and learn some things on my own first."

"I have no clue what I want to do or what I want to be. I think that's okay. Maybe in college I'll find what will make me happy because I don't think I've found that yet."

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"My Dad, my family, and my teachers."

"I try to base my decisions on what God would want me to do. I follow my heart because that will lead me in the right direction."

"I think if you follow God you can't go wrong, but you take advise from all sorts of people. I always go to my parents and talk."

"I wish I had that, but I rarely talk to my parents. I'd go to a friend way before anyone else, that or I'll go running or something and try to figure it out."

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"Follow your heart."

"Look for stuff you enjoy doing instead of material things."

"Don't settle. There's always something more you can do or go for. You can't let it take over your life, but you should at least be willing to look at those options."

"Be the best at your passions."

"Don't compare yourself to others. Be yourself."

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Quest-4's focus group in Omaha

Quest-4's presentation at the University of Wisconsin - Stout.

Quest-4's focus group in Sacramento

Quest-4's focus group in Columbus.

© Copyright Chris Moeller & Brian Ardinger, 1998