Everyone has a different way that they keep score in life and know if they are winning or losing (to them). It’s at least slightly different for each person, and it acts not only as your incentive system to do better, but also your warning siren if things are going too far off track.
However, one needs to be very careful what you use to keep score, as winning in every category except the one you value unleashes it’s own brand of hell.
Don’t measure your success with dollars if you don’t care about money
Don’t measure your success with getting a promotion if you don’t like the work
Don’t measure your success with family if you don’t like kids
Don’t measure your success with charity contributions if you don’t like people
Don’t measure your success with possessions if you don’t care about status
Make sure that your success metric AND your life path line up with something you actually value, because if you don’t, each day gets just a little bit harder and harder to put one foot in front of the other.