Both success and accomplishment can mean the same thing: to attain or achieve a goal. But when wealth or status are tied in with their usage, the meaning changes from one that is personal to one that is defined by earnings and wealth.
According to the dictionary, success has a duel meaning when it comes to achievement: to paraphrase, a goal attained, or a goal measured by monetary wealth (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/success). For example, one can say that they succeeded at college, or that they run a successful business. Accomplishment, however, has more to do with the attainment of a goal, and perhaps, the awards or accolades that come with it. (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/accomplishment) But to say one runs an accomplished business has different connotations compared with running a successful one. For example, a successful business is one that is defined by its earnings, but an accomplished one is recognized by its awards or merits.
When it comes to our personal goals, success and accomplishment are clearly distinguishable, since we can be accomplishment in the sense that we’ve produced many works or have finished various projects, although they might not be successful in terms of wealth. Another example could be someone who has learned a new language. They might be accomplished in the sense of being fluent, as well as being able to read, write, and speak in that language, despite not being successful in having earned money from it (i.e. as a translator or interpreter).
When we first start learning or pursuing anything, we start from scratch, with little to no rudimentary knowledge of the fundamentals. We set up goals along the way–small ones–that are like baby steps in the pursuit of higher and more challenging goals. As we master each level, progressing from beginner to intermediate, we acquire more knowledge and skills that make us more efficient and experienced in that endeavor. And along the way, we’ve been defining our successes by the goals we reached, but certainly not because of the wealth we earned.
Thus, when we define our success by our earnings or wealth, this can set us back, discourage us even. It could take years until we’ve earned anything or have become financially successful at it. It begs the question of why we even start learning anything. Out of interest? For external reasons, like wealth? Are we pursuing it because of the success we’d like to earn, or because of the experience and challenge it gives us–the creativity and thought it stirs in us?
Fallton Havenstonne 