I polled “being happy” but I have to say I kept moving the mouse back-and-forth between that and “being sought after” as my personal signal of satisfaction and success.
Maybe not particularly in order of importance I personally maintain:
Being happy doing it
Being sought after to do it
Being able to pay the bills with it
Being recognized by my peers as good at it
Being able to save a few bucks and putting in a bank that fails shortly thereafter 🙂
