→ Each generation’s place in life informs their outlook on success. Millennials want to be acknowledged, while Gen Xers have gained the confidence to strike out on their own. Older generations aren’t slowing down either: Boomers want to stay engaged even after retirement, and a large majority of Elders are focusing on their communities.

→ All of our respondents feel relatively successful, but the pattern suggests that their outlook improves with age. Millennials may feel more successful than Gen Xers because they don’t yet have the financial pressure that comes with supporting a family. That said, the numbers for Boomers and Elders suggest that Gen Xers will feel more successful as they grow older and more financially secure.

→ As our surveyed readers demonstrate above, the measures and meanings of success vary widely according to age, gender, and profession. Success means something unique to each individual, but many Atlantic readers value living a meaningful life with loved ones over finances or career.

→ From retirees to the youngest Millennials, our surveyed readers value emotional fulfillment over more practical measures of success. According to other studies, this emotional tendency is only expected to grow in younger generations, both in the workplace and in private life.

→ While men and women feel similarly successful across their family, professional and personal lives, there is a slightly larger difference in the way they perceive their financial success. This could be due to the narrowing but still persistent wage gap, as well as the fact that women are more likely to take time out of the workforce for caregiving.

→ Women are more likely to define success by turning their focus inward on qualities like “independence” and “happiness.” Men tend to define it through feedback from others, favoring “recognition” and “influence.”

→ Satisfaction with finances, careers, and personal fulfillment increases with age, for various reasons. Working Boomers are more satisfied with their jobs than younger generations, and Elders become even happier in retirement. Millennials and Gen Xers seem to feel more stress than older generations did at their age and may still feel the effects of fallen or stagnant wages.

→ Of those who voted for “luck,” however, 78 percent were Elders, who have been in the workplace longest. The younger generations clearly aren’t leaving success to chance, but it will be interesting to see what they say when they look back.