The Way to Success

 First essay—stream of thought type

No one has the exclusive way to success.  Some say money. Some say love.  Others say a house, a car, a child, a degree from a top university—but all are of these are only outward ways to show others that we’re successful.  People think that they must have these things before they can be happy, but Scott Achor in “The Happiness Advantage” says that the opposite is true.  Achor, who is a professor at Harvard University and who has been teaching the “Happiness Course” for fifteen years, recently wrote this book to show that happiness breeds success, not the other way around.  When I read it, it struck a chord with me and I realized that truly positive, happy people always seem to love what they do and who they are with.  Even if times get tough, they don’t knuckle under. They persevere and overcome all obstacles.

To me, the way to success is to figure out what you truly believe in and love in life.  You should write up a mission statement about how you can contribute to the world by doing what is meaningful to you.  Then, you should go after your dream—no matter what it is or if it fits society’s version of a successful reality.  Set goals, divide them into specific tasks, learn what you need to learn, do what you need to do and always keep the prize in mind.  The way to success is to have a clear vision of your future and know what will make you happy.  If you are doing what you love, with people that you care about, and making a meaningful contribution to the world, you will not only be happy, but you will be successful.

解析：
这是一篇议论文。结构非常清晰，首先由Achor教授提出的success与happiness之间的关系，暗示了自己对于成功的解读。第二段，告诉读者the way to success的具体几个步骤：Set goals, divide them into specific tasks, learn what you need to learn, do what you need to do and always keep the prize in mind. 与中式思维产出的英语文章相比，此文行文流畅深刻，说理充分，很有背诵的必要。但唯一的不足之处就是，字数超过了考题要求⊙﹏⊙b。

本文亮点：
1. exclusive way to success
2. happiness breeds success, not the other way around
3. it struck a chord with me
4. knuckle under
it fits society’s version of a successful reality