For me success is being happy and living within my means. Did go through the corporate drone phase but big income meant high cost of living so I actually didn't end up saving anything.

Once I made the decision to prioritise lifestyle, I went contracting. Only taking on projects that I liked and working for people I liked. Learning to say "No" was hard at first, but that too can be learnt. I charge for completed units for work, not by the hour.

Beware of thinking that success = having and spending lots of money. If you don't have good health, then you can't really be happy, etc. Important to remember that you can't spend your way to wealth.